Festival of Love
by Kibadelagenshin
Summary: When Ino requests that Sakura accompanies the Kazekage to the Chunin Festivals, she's a little disturbed to find out that he has red hair, a love tatoo, and Oh my gosh! It's Gaara!
1. Whos my date?

Ok, here is the rewrite for chapter one of my first ever fanfic

Yay rewrite! Enjoy! I'm trying to fix the whole thing t the way that I want it to be before anything else. I'm getting better with spelling and stuff! The plot might change a little, but, it'll just be minor things.

Enjoy!

I don't own anything Naruto related, this goes for all of my chapters.

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It was mid morning in the warm village of Konoha. The streets were busy as ever. Merchants sold gods in the plaza's, and you could hear the sounds of horses in the roads accompanied by the sounds of small but useful cars. The golden sun happened to climb in through the window of the small, but homely apartment of Sakura Haruno. Small pillows were strewn across the bed room as two girl fused over beauty products, in a rare ritual of getting ready to go some where.

"Ino , please explain to me again why I'm doing this", Sakura sighed in front of the mirror while attacking her less than soft strands of hair with a sorry looking brush. Everything else on her body was fine beside her Afro sized clump.

Her body was draped in a subtle lilac kimono; white birds were etched across the bottom and the tips of the sleeves. It hugged her middle just so, allowing for a curved appearance. Even though Sakura knew she was flat as a board, it was ok, the kimono worked for her. Her obi was also white, but if one were to look close enough , they would see gentle cream Sakura petals in the folds. A borrowed crystal choker was clasped around her neck, and medium length swirling earring were in her ears.

Her make up was natural. Cream blush, caramel, lips, strawberry eye shadow.

She really did applaud Ino for picking her outfit.

"Sakura, Sakura , Sakura, You know why you have to do this." , she simply stated, looking Sakura over and deciding the use of a curling iron would be necessary. "Tsunade wouldn't just have you do something like this for no reason."

_Even though it was my Idea……._

"This date is more than just your personal torture you know.", setting down her own comb, Ino took a straightened to Sakura's head.

"I don't even know which diplomat I'm supposed to meet up with dating", she whined, " What if he's a dirty old pervert with bladder problems! I'm so nervous! What if he turns out to be a really nice guy, and I go an say something stupid and make him hate me.", she gave Ino a disdained grimace, "I could accidentally start a war!" , Sakura began to hyperventilate.

"Calm down Sakura! One date won't get anyone killed", Sakura's blatant over reaction wasn't any surprise. Seeing as Sakura hadn't dated anyone , ever , it was natural for her pink haired friend to go crazy over it.

It was just her nature.

"Don't worry about who your date will be, I picked a good one for you!!", Ino said coyly, as she worked Sakura's hair in to an elegant bun, with a few framing strands. Her eyes crinkled as she gave here friend an odd smile.

"What are you talking about?", silence filled the room.

"I know who you date is."

"You picked my date!", her eyes grew to saucer sized proportions, " You knew all along and didn't tell me."

"Do you want to know?" , Ino asked Sarcastically , already knowing the answer.

A small voice replied, " No, not really.", she looked down at her clasped hands, an innocent expression painted across her smooth face.

"Well to bad! You going with!"

"LALALALALALAL I'm not listening!", Sakura covered her ear for dear life.

"He's from Suna!", she boomed in her imitation of an announcer voice

"Ino no! ", she screamed.

"You've met him before!"

"Wait a minute, you can't be serious it can't be….", foreboding dawned on her like a heavy show. The color drained from her face, and her hands tightened on here ear. Her heart sputtered to a stop in her chest.

_Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him._

Ino interjected with no warning, and no restraints, " You're going to be dating , the Kazekage Himself!"

"Gaara of The Dessert"

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Well everybody, I'm editing and changing some thing before I fix up the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed it better than you did the first time, or for the first time for others. Expect updates!

Thanks for Reading!


	2. Blue paper

**This is my second chapter and imm soo happppppy! Please read and review because it's kind of hard to find the motivation to keep going if threes nothing to motivate you well enjoy**

**kiba de la genshin**

Actually I lied when I said they were going to the Chunin ball first. They were actually talking a limo that left from the Uchiha complex

A.K.A sasuks house.

IF you had seen Sakura and Ino at that very moment you would have died of laughter. There on the street you saw to beautiful girls dressed in heels and nice kimonos running madly away from a big, scary, muddy **Kitten!**

Any ways……….

When they reached the Uchiha complex both girls knocked on the door. They stared up at the house. For Ino the house was marvelous, it was her dream house. It was tan with dark blue shudders and black roof. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, it had 5 stories! (Sry if I used the wrong stories for this type of description) The chimney OMG! The chimney was made out of pure gold

Ino really loved Sasuke right now about knows. How ever Sakura wasn't the least bit happy, on the contrary, she was extremely nervous. She hadn't seen Sasuke since the COLD STONE BENCH INCIDENT!

Flash back

Sakura watches as Sasuke is about to leave the village, a slow lonely tear falls down her cheek.

"Sasuke don't go! I… I love you" her voice went from a whisper to a yell. In that second Sasuke was no longer in front of her was now standing behind her.

"Thank you Sakura." These were the last words that Sakura ever heard Sasuke say before she felt a sharp pain in her neck and passed out into darkness.

Then he picked her up placed a small kiss on her forehead then placed her onto Cold stone bench (I hate that bench)

End flash back

The door opened slowly and you could see a very annoyed/angry/happy /cool looking Sasuke standing at the door He was dressed in those black long shorts that boys wear now a days. His shirt was made out of a light blue silk that was shining in the evening sun. (At least he tried to look dressy) Unlike Naruto who was wearing his usual orange jump suit. The door was wide opened so you could see Hinata in a light blue kimono with a green sash and fan.

Sakurs hearts skipped a beat when she saw Sasuke. They were all now 16 years old and looked a lot more mature. They were all taller and a lot cooler looking (except chouji) Sasuke was giving her complete eye contact. He wanted to see whether or not she would break down and cry in front of him. If she did, then he would ignore her, but if she didn't he would have her as his own to revive his clan. (Yup the only reason he came back was because he finally killed his brother)

"Come in" his voice was very relaxed and playful, as if he wanted to annoy her and get her to scream (he did) However he was very surprised when all she did was walk right through the door.

"Hey Hinata," Sakura was greeted by one of her most trusted friends.

"Sakura I…I finally asked out Naruto" her voice was a mere whisper, but it always was.

Sakura hugged her friend and gave her a very excited smile. Then she took a seat next to Naruto on the porcelain coach that was elegantly encrusted with silver. Naruto quickly gave Sakura a hug, not wanting to offend Hinata.

Ok, so this is how they were sitting

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura were sitting comfortably while sharing the four person coach. While on the other hand, Ino and was sitting on top of Sasuke while they shared an arm chair. (It was seriously only meant for one person)

After a thirty second silence Naruto dug into his pocket and pulled out a blue piece of paper. Every one was watching him. Then he took a pen from his other pocket and quickly wrote some thing down and gave threw it at Sakura. Sakura automatically realized what it was. It was a justu that allowed the paper to show the thoughts of anyone she wanted. She glanced at Naruto then put the paper into her pocket and silently thought. Thank you.

Sasuke cut through her thoughts when he said "the limo should be here at any moment no…" Beep Beep! The loud beep of a limo stopped sasuke from pronouncing his last letter. "On ward to the Festival" Naruto and Ino shouted this out in unison while Sakura and Hinata giggled. It's amazing how they don't like each other they're so much alike. Every one walked out of the house and stopped dead in there tracks (except for Sasuke). They saw an unbelievable sight they never thought that they could even think they'd seen it, but they did. Parked outside right in front of Sasuke house was a pure gold limo.

Once every one was about to enter the limo sakura stopped Ino.

"Ino, I don't know what to do, i m about to cry I haven't seen sasuke and i...i... just can't" sakura was on the verge of tears. With out a second though Ino embraced her friend in a tight hug.

"Don't worry sakura I am here for you, ill try my hardest to help, and don't cry, you ruin you makeup", with this last statement both girls laughed and

Entered the limo with smiles one there faces.

But how far will Sasuke go to get sakura to break down, what will happen in the next chapter of THE FESTIVAL OF LOVE!

Shanikshanikashanikashanikashanikshanikshanikashanikshanikshanika

Well I please read and review, ill bake you corn muffins


	3. 5 minutes

Sry it took me so long to update, I have like a test every two weeks and 5 quizzes a week. So I have a lot of home work. Don't worry Gaara comes in at the end of the chapter, so hang in there.

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Sakura's smile instantly faded when she entered the limo. This is not at all what she had planned. The limo wasn't as big inside as she would have thought. It was slightly cramped but there was enough room for comfort. There were two big sets of couches inside if the limo . The limo facing the driver was a three person couch consisting of Sasuke, who was sitting by the window, a very happy Ino who grabbed onto his arm making Sasuke's calm face change to a look of pure annoyance. Then there was Naruto who was extremely hipper, more than usual. It was as if he had eaten a piece of candy the size of the Hokage statues. All in all, the people on that couch seemed to be very normal. Except for Sasuke , he was doing something with his Sharingan, but no one noticed they were to busy greeting Sakura and Ino into the limo. Now the part that bothered Sakura was the fact that the couch facing away from the driver was a two person seat, and Hinata already had dibs on the seat in front of naruto, which meant that…. She had to sit….. in front ..of Sasuke! Sakura gulped as she climbed over Hinata to get to the window seat. _Inner sakura: ok Sakura, all you have to do is not look at him, talk to him ,remember stuff about him, sing to him, worship him "ok shut up get the point." _ Sakura interrupted her inner self before she could say anything else that would make the situation worse.

"Driver, take us to the Chunin Festival and take the shortest route possible" Sasuke's voice exploded into Sakura's thought, disconnecting her from reality for about three seconds.

"Why in such a rush sasuke? To eager to watch me beat you in a drinking contest?" Naruto's lips curled up into an evil little smile. Every body sighed and did little anime sweat drop thing. Although Naruto really needed to think before he said something really stupid , he did start the first conversation. It had some thing to do with ramen(what else). The driver still hadn't started moving yet. The limo was heavy because it was made out of gold, so he had to let the engines heat up. Then with a small little sputter of the engine, the car started to move.

"How long is it gonna take", Naruto's loud and extremely annoying voice cascaded through thought the limo.

"Damn it Naruto shut up!" Ino shrieked at Naruto and hit him over the head.

"It should take about 5 minutes." Sasuke was annoyed to the extreme at this point but he couldn't let it show or else his Sharingan wouldn't be able to work for what he needed it to.

Minute 1

Naruto and Ino were having a very heated debate about what food group ramen was in .Ino just didn't understand why he didn't classify it as a fat because it was like a heart attack, just in soup form. Then Naruto on the other hand didn't understand why people didn't put it in the grain group because ramen was still a noodle thing ,and noodles are grain. Hinata was actually very interested in this conversation (Not!) Hinata only thought about how cute Naruto looked when he was angry. This is so unlike Hinata , but the festival is said to change people. It's a legend that those who lost what was never there will gain what was never found. In words less confusing, You'll find you forbidden self, and fall in love.

Sasuke eyed Sakura as she listened to Naruto's conversation, obviously annoyed that they were still having a conversation about the same topic.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered in the most lustful voice he could muster. His intention was to get her attention and knowing Sakura….. Sakura instantly looked in his direction as if it was an instinct…….It worked. Sakura's thoughts were consumed with his appearance at the moment, He look as if he wanted to kiss her at the very moment. This strange emotion is what tricked Sakura into not realizing what was really happening. Her eyes gazed at the way his shirt outlined his well toned muscles and strong arms. His raven blue hair seemed to entrance many women, then his beautiful blood red eyes.

_Wait a minute , the Sharingan! _ Every thing faded to black as she tried desperalty to look away. _shi…(t)_

Minute 2

Sakura awoke to the sound of her own voice screaming Sasuke's name.

"Please don't go Sasuke I love you," Sakura jerked up wards in panic and frantic hurry to forget about the memory that constantly haunted Sakura

every time she past any stone bench(there were a lot of benches like that in Kohona.) Instead of seeing the inside of a limo she only saw a very amused Sasuke looking down at her. It was as if they were standing in the dark, but they could clearly see each other. Sakura quickly got up.

" Why would you do that to me?" Sakura's voice sounded angry yet very curios and eager at the same time.

"Do what?", oh my goodness, at this point in time Sakura couldn't take it any more she was going to punch some body, and this person was going to be Sasuke.

"Use you're Sharingan to send me to this place. What's this about Sasuke?" He could sense the anger in her voice. Her charka seemed to be very excited as if she was actually going to fight him.

_There's no way she's going to try to fight me she cant win, and anyways…..She can't hurt some one she's in love with._

"Well.. well, what a smart girl you've become, what a shame you couldn't use your brains when you needed to , because I wouldn't have to use you if you could have stopped me, back then……….."

One small tear slid down Sakura's cheek.

Minute 3

Hinata knew something was wrong when Sakura fell asleep next to her , and then started to join into the whole Ramen conversation.(Yes, they were still arguing). It was unusual to sleep talk with such detail about a conversation. Then Hinata look over to Sasuke. A look of pure horror came over her face when she looked in Sasuke's direction. He had his Sharingan activated and with her own blood line limit she could see waves of chakra being emitted from them.

OOO this is bad, and right about as she was going to shriek and tell every one, she found that she couldn't move either. Sasuke was a smart little bastard. He knew that if anyone in the limo would notice the what he was doing ,that it would defiantly be Hinata. So he used a Jutsu that confused the thoughts and nerve reactions of the body. When she tried to shake Sakura she ended up quaking like a duck. When she tried to get up she stared singing a very random song.

"Do your chains hang low do they wobble to the floor", every one heard this song and joined in with her.(I do not own this song) It was the ghetto remix to "Do your Ears Hang Low".

" Do they shine in the light are they platinum are they gold", now there was a chorus of voices sing . Even the driver started to hum along to the gangsta tunes being heard from the back of the limo.

_Oh boy_Hinata thought to her self. _This is going to be a long trip._

Minute 4

Sakura charged at Sasuke with incredible speed. Her pink hair flew back as she ran. Sasuke was caught way off guard by this. He had no idea she was this fast. How could a weak little girl like Sakura turn into some thing so strong, so deadly, and so hot!

_What did I just think? _

Sasuke didn't seem to be paying much attention to the angry pink haired ninja flying towards him, so she did the right thing…… she punched him in the face.

Slow motion……..

Sakura's small fist gently tapped the point of Sasuke's nose, and then in a graceful manner slammed his nose almost flat. As Sasuke's body flew backwards onto the darkened space. Upon impact with the ground his body bounced once then sank down wards into what seemed to be an endless pit.

End of slow motion

Sakura paused for a minute. _Did I just hit Sasuke? _ But there wasn't anytime to think. He wasn't underground anymore he was right behind her. He held her with both arms around the waist. The blood from his nose dripped onto her shoulder as he lowered his head so that his mouth was just barely grazing her right ear lobe. Grinned agenst her earlobe. Sakura could feel his breath on her hair line.

"That was good Sakura", Sakura was so confused and shocked that she didn't move. Wait a minute! She couldn't move, and the last thing she saw was a flash of red and she closed her eyes.

Minute 5.

The limo jerked to a stop waking the nearly unconscious Sakura. Her ninja senses and she sat up strait and ready to kill Sasuke. (Only if necessary)

How every she was a bit surprised to so that it looked like he was sleeping. _Was it all just a dream, but how couldn't that be possible? It was so real. _Before Sakura knew it Sasuke woke up. His eyes were blood red and filled with anger and something else, but she couldn't tell what. All she wanted to do was get out of the limo. In fact now was the perfect time because every one else was getting out.

"Hurry up Sakura", Naruto's voice called to her from out side the limo. _I don't have any problems with that._ Before Sakura could move to get out of the limo herself she was grabbed by Ino and pulled out of the car.

"Are you ready to see your date", Ino sounded like one of those wrestling broad casters.

"Ino, you know I really don't want to dance with some old fart", Sakura could sense the cold stare one the back of her head right after she said this. So she turned around and was met the stare with her own. She threw Sasuke a very evil grin, and it actually scared him a little bit. Sakura, satisfied with her work turned back to Ino.

"Actually Ino, I can't wait to see who the Kazekage is", Since Ino and Sakura were standing on the other side of the limo, and they couldn't see who was standing out side the gates. The Limo slowly drove away in front of the them and left the two girls standing at the beauty of the gates. They were large and made out of red wood with silver letters on them that said "Chunin Festival"

Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and walked towards a figure standing in the shadow. When the person heard some one approaching, he turned around. A very curious look spread across his face as he saw two girls approaching. But they weren't just any girls, they were the two girls that he had seen fighting in the Chunin Exams. _So they were friends, but what do they want, I'm waiting for some one._

Sakura stopped in front of the man and looked slowly up at him in curiosity , when she reached his face her was confused beyond words.

Ino started to goggle a bit when she saw the look on Sakura's face. It was priceless.

'Sakura, meet Gaara , The Kazekage of Suna".

Well there you have it , the second chapter. Read and review! I will try to update every Saturday


	4. What the!

Hi!. Thank you all of my reviewers, I love you guys! Im trying so hard to keep this story going because I keep getting destracted with this guy I like, hes so much like Sasuke . But you don't want to here about my life, you'd rather read the story. Okay here you go chapter four! Oj yeah, Gaara is older and hes not as evil as before, he's.

Sakura was in complete and total shock. She almost completely forgot who she was looking at. So just to make sure ,she did a retake. He was wearing black boots with straps that looked rugged and sexy. He was wearing the average hokage out fit, but with out the ridiculous hat. His hair still stood on his head, messy and wild as always. But his face was different he wasn't evil or sinister looking. His cheeks had a slight blush and lips looked soft and inviting.

_Could this be a whole new Gaara?_

"Well , don't just stand there and look like an idiot", Gaara's cold voice cut into her thoughts like a knife.

_Guess not._

Sakura didn't even realize that she was staring at Gaara until she heard Ino burst out into laughter next to her.

"Excuse me for a minute" , Sakura didn't want to seem rude ,after all she needed to **Thank ** Ino for what a wonderful friend she was for setting up this lovely encounter. One of Gaara's nonexistent eyebrows raised to create a look of slight curiosity , but it faded as quickly as it came. Sakura really didn't care who was infront of her at the moment . She grabbed Ino by the neck and slammed her into the wall with half of her strength.

"Ino what the hell….", she stopped when she realized her friends face was turning red. OH!

'Sorry Ino I forgot that in order to breath you need air, probably how you forgot to tell me the Kazekage ….",she stopped whispering mid sentence. Why am _I act like this I don't usually do this type of stuff._ She instantly turned she attention back to the patient KazeKage standing in front of her. Gaara actually wasn't angered by this behavior, he was actually very amused. He thought the Konoha would send some ugly little whore who wore cheep make up, way to much lip stick and slutty hears. But they sent this gir. _I wonder if she's and different_. _Can is she worthy of me? Can she face the challenge of the Festival?_

"Um , I'm sorry about that."

Gaara turned his attention back to the pink girl in front of him. He looked at her up and down. This set Sakura's cheeks ablaze she would have looked like a tomato. She was certainly different in her looks. She didn't seem as annoying, she actually looked cute. _Shukaku: It's her enhanced features am I right Gaara? I think we should just take her to a private little corner and…_

"_Shut up", Gaara quickly silenced the demon inside of him. Thoughts like that really messed up his day._

"Lets go before the gate closes", He walked off in silence.

Sakura turned around to face Ino .

"Ino why….", her voice was terrified.

'Don't worry Sakura I didn't choose this date for no reason. Now lets hurry every ones already at the festival announcements", Sakura and Ino turned to face only air when they realized Gaara had gone ahead and was now waiting for them at the gates.

" Are you ready Sakura?" , Ino was beginning to doubt she had made the right choice. However when she looked to the side and saw the eager look in Sakura's eyes. She could have predicated the answer.

"Know and always". Inner Sakura: Cha! Ino and Sakura ran of in Gaara's direction. The Paper in Sakura's purse glew blue for an instant as a single word appeared .

"_Will " appeared in purple on the thin blue paper._

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There you have it. I worked hard to get this here… (Takes the knife and raises it towards the ceiling. Then it descended and struck.. duh duh duh A piece of bread ) What? Can't a girl be hungry?

kibadelagenshin


	5. A little danger with dinner

Hey its kiba here ……………Thank you all my reviewers. UM I love all a ya. Thanks for reviewing, and here's my next chapter. OH yeah, also read my other story, Mirage  sasu/ saku

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When Sakura finally caught up with Gaara, she wasn't quit sure what to do. I mean she was going to be his date right? She might have been the prettiest 16-year-old in Konoha , but she was to busy working in the hospital or training to notice. She had always ignored the hordes of men that swarmed around her during her morning jogs. Sakura didn't want to let any one have her, only Sasuke could do that. Well that's what she had thought. Until she had turned fifteen.

FLASH BACK

Sakura was sitting in her pink room looking over the pictures of the three Sanins. (Sorry if I spelled that wrong, or any of the names in this group.) She was bored one day so she turned to stealing as a relief from her over baring boredom. When she noticed the similarities between Jiraiya and Naruto, she was hysterical. They used to wear their hair the same way and even dress the same. Sakura couldn't imagine how alike she and Tsunade looked when they were twelve. Same clothes same hair and same actions towards their Naruto like friends. She cracked up at a picture of her teacher attempting to strangle the messy haired Jiraiya. Priceless. But when she saw Orochimaru she started to cry. Tears rolled down her now red cheeks leaving glazed marks where they once ran. Orochimaru looked just like Sasuke, and you know how Orochimaru turned out. That was it Sakura couldn't take it anymore her heart was going to shatter and she wouldn't allow it _Inner Sakura: CHA!!! Were getting rid of that no good motherf….._

End Flash back

Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts when she bumped into Gaara. He turned around to face her in anger , only to find that he couldn't get angry at her. She seemed to be day dreaming about something disturbing. Since he was Gaara , the KazeKage he couldn't yell.

A very long minute passed as they just stared at each other. But it wasn't an uncomfortable minute , it was actually enjoyable. But the sound of people gasping and going:

"The Kazekage"

" were is he?"

quickly reminder them of who they were.

For the one moment that he had decided to let his guard down and listen , he felt a warmth spread along his arm. He looked at his arm. Sakura was hold his hand in the traditional entry pose they were supposed to take.

"I think we should go know," Sakura's hushed tone quickly stated.

"Ok , lets go," , but what Gaara really meant to say was_ lets…' actually make lets a U turn and go back to Suna !' _as for the moment only he knew why he thought this, Shukaku couldn't quit figure out why Gaara had thought this. _Shukaku: Why? So you can find a nice dark place, take her there and…_

_Shut up. _

' _Ok so I guess I'm going in then', _with this final thought, Sakura and Gaara both entered through the doors.

They both winced slightly as they entered, the lights from the lanterns were bright as they hung over the various shops. However, the festival was empty. They both walked up a beautifully engraved marble walk way. Sakura's kimono swayed with her steps , Gaara couldn't help but look at her, at that very moment.

He was entranced by her beauty , her height ,her hair, … her lips …Gaara looked at Sakura , in the hopes that she would look scared,. He loved when people were scared. They shook, screamed, and even passed out. But when he looked over at Sakura , she looked ready. As if she was about to step into a battle.

" Are you ready?", Gaara asked in disbelief .

"Ready as ever", Her voice was strong and empowering as if she was trying to tell him to get ready.

When they entered the room Gaara and Sakura both stopped immediately.

"Gaara,", Sakuras voice seeming slightly scared, but there was a hint of questioning in her voice.

"Yes…" Gaara voice seemed grim and annoyed for a split second, then it went back to sounding emotionless.

"Did you know the room was this big?" Sakura and Gaara both looked out at the room again, but together this time. The room was enormous, or at least it seemed large. There had to be at least 5,000 people there, all of which were looking at them. The floors were white and the walls were a blue color. The tables were covered with the most delectable foods.. (Muffins!) The table clothes were a beautiful baby blue , creating a very relaxed type of mood. But this was only so the ninja didn't start a riot because if they were to tence who knows what could happen. The tables were all arranged so that every one had to face the KazeKage, Mizukage , Hokage and Sukage.(I don't know the other ones) Every one watched them as they walked over to their table. The cloth was a gold and the chairs were wooden(like every one elses) There was a five minute wait before the first speech started. So Sakura observed the people sitting around the circle of their table. The Kages all had dates , but one girl was very ominous looking. Her kimono was a dark purple, seemingly black, her blonde hair just barely covered her eyes , which were focused on Sakura. She gave her a menacing grin and with that Sakura looked away.

_Something very strange is going to happen , I can feel it. Inner sakura: Hell yeah! Bring it on Bitch._

Gaara looked at Sakura then out at the crowd. He knew some thing was going to happen, something bad. He wasn't going to sit through a boring speech, neither was Sakura.

Sakura made a few quick hand sighs under the table. Sent a quick little warning glance at Gaara , who coaght the look and instantly was on guard. He followed her example and also made a few quick hand sighs and with in 3 minutes, both Sakura and Gaara were gone. Only leaving behind two very realistic shadow clones.

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Sorry for this one not being as long as I wanted it to be, but next week the chapies gonna get interesting.

What's going to happen?

Will Gaara and Sakura have some alone time,

What the hell is up with Sasuke?

Next time in…

The festival of Love!!!

Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! porfavor


	6. Shukaku has feelings Perverted ones!

Hola mi amigos,. I need to practice my Spanish because I failed that stupid quiz. OK , I'm going to make this chapter long, and since it will be long, id love to have a lot of reviews for it. Hint hint. Wink wink. Nod nod. Oh yeah, there is a whole Shukaku part in here, but don't worry, its still Gaara xx Sakura

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A cute brown grey squirrel huddled underneath a beautiful Sakura tree that looked over the entire village. The bark of the tree was long and a beautiful golden brown color. The soft pink petals were shining in the moon light. Judging by the angle of what ever celestial thingy ma bob was in the sky, it was now around 7:00 and it was a truly beautiful night. As the squirrel was about to bite into the nice big acorn.

Poof! Poof! Two large strangers being came out of no where and ate the acorn and said "Silly wabit trix are for kids"

LOL just kidding.

Here is what really happened……..

The beautiful full moon shown it celestial light across the sky, illuminating the browns and greens of the roof tops of Konoha village. On top of a well elevated tall green hill, a high and beautiful Sakura tree stood tall and beautiful. The scene was magnificent and stunning, very fitting for two lovers. A small poof sound was heard as a very relieved looking Gaara appeared next to the tree. He leaned back and was going to wait till Sakura appeared.

"_I guess she is weak after all, I mean come on, why can't she even get a teleportation jutsu down." _ Gaara thought this, and small very unnoticeable wrinkles of anger began to be seen on his face.

He only showed emotion when he was alone, and even when he was alone, you could only barely tell he was annoyed or agitated. He never seemed happy, that just wasn't Gaara- like. However, what Gaara could not sense or see was Sakura, sitting in the tree above him. Legs crossed enjoying the scenery until a certain Kazekage happened to poof in a minute later than her. However Sakura wasn't coincided like Gaara was , she acknowledged the fact that she made her hand signs first, hence, she got there first.

_Shukaku: She stronger than you think. Plus she's hot, so like I was saying… if we just took her back to Suna and.._

"_Hell no, for the last time! Shut up!_

_Shukaku: ok, fine , but I wouldn't call her weak, she closer than you think…_

_What are you talking about?_

At that choice moment Sakura decided to jump down from the rather large tree, making her presence know. In doing so she surprised the hell out of Gaara. For a second his whole entire face lit up in surprise, but it was to quick to be seen by the human eye.

(Good thing I caught it in slow motion)

Slow motion from moment of jump….

Sakura slowly fell from the trunk on the tree. Gaara turned his head in the directing of the swishing noise of a kimono. For a split second, Gaara's non existent eyebrows raised , his soft lips opened to let out a small gasp , his red hair seemingly transmitting his shock from every wave of his body. But only for a split second did this happen. This moment was not long enough for Sakura to see. Therefor, it will for ever go unknown as the day that Gaara finally showed emotion.

End slow motion……..

"So do you think we should search the village?" Sakura contemplated her question a bit after she asked it. Well, they could do that or they could go to the festival part of the whole voyage and be first in line. After all, the venders are opened an hour before the speech ends. (Yes, the speech is still going on)

"So what would you like to do?" Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow up at Gaara who was just staring blankly at her. He didn't seem to be thinking and he didn't seem to even be looking at her.

In Gaara's head.

Gaara: "What the hell Shukaku. You couldn't tell me she was there the whole time?" Gaara raised his voice in his own head. But that really wasn't a good idea because it sent him loud vibrations that in the end gave him a head ache.

Shukaku: "Stupid, this is my house, well sort of, and I'm not letting you leave until you agree to my terms."

Gaara : "What the fu…." Gaara was cut off by a really sharp pain between his eyebrow. "Ahh!!!!" Gaara let out an internal scream.

Shukaku: " Now here's the deal. I've noticed a few changes in you ever since you saw that girl. You, well, how should I say. You haven't thought of killing her once since you saw her. That is seriously creeping the heck out of me!" Shukaku took a small break to regain his cool demeanor . " So what I plan to do is take over your body for a bit and see what you think of her once I ask her a few questions…"

Gaara: "Shukaku if you do that I will kill my self." Gaara said this with a flat cool voice in an attempt to sound as if he didn't care. He hoped to sound as if it made no difference whether or not he took over his body.

…………

Gaara : ":Shukaku? **Shukaku!!!!!**"

Back to the real world 

Sakura was now waving her hand in front of Gaara's face.

"Hello is any one in there?" Sakura looked at Gaara again in anger and questioning. First of all, she couldn't wake him up when she yelled or poked him, and she tried her medical jutsu to find the problem, but it just wasn't working."

So in one last attempt to wake him, she waved her hand infront of his face.

"Gaar… Gasp," Sakura's hand was now caught by the newly awakened Shukaku. (I am now using Shukaku instead of Gaara)

Shukaku stared down at Sakura with lustful eyes, sending a way of pure shock, and surprisingly pleasure down her body. Even thought Shukaku looked like Gaara, Sakura could tell it wasn't exactly him.

"Lets not look for what ever it was that seemed dangerous" Shukaku's voice sounded slightly deeper than Gaara's He had a sly trick , more…seductive air to him. His expression was actually human like. However he was emitting the type of expression that a lion gives to its prey right before it starts to chase it.

"We, and the whole v v v village could be in d danger", Sakura stuttered out of fear and curiosity. She looked sort of like a sexy deer caught in the head lights. For a lack of a better description. She was entranced by Shukaku but still conscious of the danger that lurked in side.

"Well , my dear", his voice seemed to get deeper and more mysterious", " Your in a whole lot of danger now" She let this last sentence drag as he stared into her eyes. It felt as if he was boring into her soul. In fact, he was. He was sending very small amounts of his demon chakra in to her so she could not react with her medical instincts.

Gaara was looking at Sakura from inside his head, and he couldn't believe what Shukaku was doing to her.

Gaara: _"I have to stop this right now." "Shukaku if you even try to touch her (.a.k.a rape ) I will seriously jump of a cliff!" (Gaaras sand cant stop that)_

Shukaku: _Ok, ok, I was going to, but since your going to kill yourself now I have to act differently. You always ruin my fun._

"_S_akura , why don't we sit and talk until the festival starts." He once again stared at her with his lustful eyes. This was an obvious danger sign for Sakura. If she tried to go somewhere, something would happen.

"Sure", Sakura answer with a shaky voice. Shukaku guided Sakura to the tree. He had his hand around her waist. They looked like a happy couple, except he was a demon and she was in a slight trance. Without warning Shukaku pressed Sakura up against the Cherry blossom tree. They were close, bodies pressed up against each other, they could feel each others breath on one another cheeks.

"What are your thoughts on the subject of being alone…," Shukaku whispered to her as he nibbled it her ear lobe. This question for Gaara. His childhood was truly screwed up. As a kid no one loved him, and most of his family died because me (Shukaku) so he couldn't help but ask whether or not Sakura had a mind , or was just some expensive escort.

Sakura was taken aback by this question. No one had ever even thought to ask about her feelings. She had always felt alone. Sasuke never loved her , and when ever she was with Naruto or Kakashi she still felt out of place, don't get me wrong or anything. She loved her friends, Ino, Hinata, Lee and every body. She just couldn't get rid of the void in heart.

"Well," she started slowly and slightly shy, "I've always felt alone, even thought I have great friends." She paused to take a slow shakey breath. "They can't seem to fill this emptiness in side me." , Sakura started to slowly tear, But ever so slightly , it was unnoticeable.

Gaara: Gaara stared in surprise at the words of the pink hair girl. No one had ever felt the way he had.

Shukaku understood Gaara's thoughts clearly and looking at Sakura in a very ominous way. He seemed as if he was going to kill her. A psycho path is what he most resembled at the moment. In general , he was really creepy.

Sakura's mind went into a panic.

_Oh my goodness , what am I going to do. He could really be dangerous. I need to get out of here. _Sakura was going to scream here loudest for help at this point. This situation just wasn't right. Then, she remembered what her old sensei had told her about the new Kazekage. Something about how he was possessed by a demon. So that was what she went with.. However, she remembered two facts in particular. 1. He can only take control for 10 minutes each month , and that he was a pervert. Sakura was now finished thinking and planning now to scream. Shukaku, being an expert at making people scream , saw the sighs. The wetting and parting of the lips , then you inhale and , well, the scream.

However, this time, Sakura did not get passed the inhale part. As she went to scream, soft lips were pressed against hers. The aroma of sand and a hint of colon invaded her senses. It was unrealistic how a demon could kiss like this. It was as if she was floating. She felt swept off of her feet. By the matter of fact, she wasn't even standing , Gaara(Yup, Gaara is back) was holding her bridal style as they kissed. It was no longer Shukaku who had started the kiss, it was Gaara and she knew it. Even though it may not have been under normal circumstances , they shared that one moment, and for that time they didn't feel empty anymore.

In here purse The blue paper once again began to glow leaving three world on it.

"_Will you be" _

_Little did Gaara and Sakura know that there was more going on at the Festival than they thought. Why is the speech so long? Who is the blond girl? Find out, in the next chapter._

Omg that took me a while. Please review so I can see if you guys liked it. I wrote the Shukaku part for one of my favorite Akatsuki reviewers.

Thanks for reading, and always remember. Review!!!


	7. details details

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting, I got a little writers block. A ready big writers block to be exact, but I'm going to try to be more detailed and paint a bigger picture. Thank you for reviewing and bringing the smile on my face when I wake up on Sunday.

(Don't worry, my story isn't going to get all lovey dovy, I was just very, in the mood while I wrote the first part)(The mood for food!)

363636363636 36363636366363 3737373737

The kiss seemed to last like an eternity. 1 whole minutes passed as the two stayed there. The moon of Konoha shined down on them. This secret little moment was truly beautiful if you had been an on looker. The silhouette of two bodies only caste as black shadows contrasting to the moon above. The Beautiful Sakura tree blending in with the scenery nicely and the rough looking texture of Gaara's hair contrasted with the sensual smoothness of Sakura's skin. It was beautiful. No one to stop them, no one to tell them that Kazekage shouldn't bee kissing some one who isn't even licensed yet to take over for a Hokage. But for that moment it was all right. They felt whole. Sakura broke away from Gaara, it was obvious to him she couldn't breath anymore. After all, he had taken her by surprise in the first place. They stared in each others eyes for a very long minute. Deep pools of light green staring into endless emerald orbs. Then Sakura looked at his soft lips. Oh how they had tasted so sweet. She was about to lean back in for another kiss , another moment of bliss. However, reality decided to show its ugly face and kill the moment.

_What am I doing? This is so wrong. I really shouldn't be… Oh my god I just did._

_Inner Sakura: The was pretty damn hot for a first kiss._

" Please put me down", Sakura's voice quivered with fear. It was her first kiss, she had thought it was Sasuke that she would share that with. Sakura had thought that she was binned to Sasuke, she thought that he would come to love her eventually . But it would never happen. She knew it. It was a lost cause.

Gaara released her. But he didn't just drop her onto her butt on the soft looking grass. No. He's not that messed up. He gently and slowly put her back onto his feet. He thought about what he had done just now. Yes, it was mainly Shukaku's doing, but he liked it. It felt so right. He had always felt a feeling of heaviness on his shoulders, a feeling that he was stuck with. But during the kiss It had left.

_Shukaku: See what I did for you… Now what do we say when some one does you a favor._

_Gaara: No, I am not going to leave you with her ever again._

_(Shukaku wasn't talking about saying thank you, well, not in the way you or I would say it)_

So there the two stood.. Two almost completely different people who had just connected on a higher level then they had ever connected with anyone else before. It was strange how opposites attracted. Even though magnets did demonstrate that perfectly. It was so unrealistic.

"What did you just…", Sakura was cut off.

"I just kissed you", He sounded very calm and cool when he spoke, but underneath it, you could here Shukaku saying stuff like.

_Shukaku: That was so hot Gaara, do it again! _

He stared into her eyes as he said this. He didn't like to side step things. SO he was going to be as bold , bare and to the point as possible. Basically the way he always is.

"But it wasn't completely me that time", he got closer to her. He took one of his rough hands and slid it behind Sakura's head. And hovered his lips three centimeters in front of hers.

"This time," One centimeter left. "Its all me" Gaara closed the space between them. They kissed more passionately this time. Lips locked Gaara's hand basically everywhere.

_Inner Sakura: What the?_

_Shukaku: Damn!_

But only a brief kiss. Just a little peak of what could possibly happen between them later. But it was defiantly indefinite. They didn't know what was going on between them, but for this second time. It didn't really matter.

They broke apart. This time they both realized what they had done and what barrier they had just smashed to pieces. People from different levels, actually more like people from different villages, should be passionately kissing under the moon. A cool breeze blew. Just what they need to pull them back into reality.

"See Sakura! I told you it was the perfect idea." Ino's loud gleeful shriek echoed into the air.

'Ha, I just got you your first kiss." Sakura stared completely confused.

_This is just so freakin weird. First I get kissed by the cold hearted emotion less Garra, Then Ino knew that this was gonna happen the whole time/! This is messed up screwed up, and jacked up._

Sakura let out a small sigh. There wasn't actually that much to think about. She had gotten kissed by Gaara and Ino had known about it the whole time.

_Oh well._

" Ok, Ino I get it, you can stop the dancing now!"

_Its so annoying to have my supposed best friend, trick me into kissing some one, then dance around abut it!_

_Inner Sakura: I actually enjoyed that. Thank Ino for me later._

"_Oh I'll thank her….."_

"Ok , gosh, ruine my fun. But, I think we should go back before Naruto and Hinate get annoyed. I kinda ditched them.." Ino tried to look all innocent, but it wasn't working. Her and Gaara could tell that she couldn't care less.

_Gaara… what's really going on between us. I never felt any attraction between us. He used to be some really freaky skinny kid that killed people. _

_Innner Sakura: Sakura, sakura, sakura. You've always been attracted to him for the longest time now._

_Since when?_

_Inner Sakura: The first time you saw him._

Flash Back

Sakura stepped into the large stadium filled with genin and jounin of all sorts. But, they all had very spiky hair. It was the trend between ninjas at that time. She looked around nervously. This was her chance to shine, and show every one that she wasn't just some weak little girl. She wasn't going to stand to be held back and be handicapped. Her, Naruto, and Sasuke followed Kakashi to the top part of the Stadium. The hard stone stairs all most tripped her as they went up.

"No one saw that" Sakura yelled.

"Saw what?" Sasuke asked with curiosity.

"Oh, hehe, nothing"

She stared across the room to see how many people were here. She didn't remember how many had survived he forest of death. Everyone's gaze was distorted from hers and aimed at the up coming match. But the only pair of eyes that looked directly into her, and that was Gaara's. That's how they stayed for the who match. Just looking at each other.

End flash back.

_Inner Sakura: How could you not remember that? You stared at him for the whole match!_

_Oh, okie dokei then._

Sakura was quickly pulled out of her thoughts by Ino grabbing her arm violently and pulling her forward.. But, to her surprise, her first reaction was to grab Gaara's and take him down with her.

During those period of time, Gaara was basically arguing with Shukaku, But I cant show you that conversation. To much violence and a lot of censorship needed. So when Sakura took Gaara's hand he wasn't sane enough to care at the moment. So thus the three of them went. Down the hill and in the direction of Naruto and Hinata. Where ever they were. Thus their hunt began to find their friends.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

It was very lovely dovey through the whole chapter, but in the next one, I'm going to introduce the action and plot and don't worry, I'm not getting distracted. Thank you for every one who reads, even if you don't review. I still love you. So please review so I can see if you want me to slow down more or speed it up if you think I'm to slow. Tell me how you like it; am I doing well for my first story?


	8. Bring it on bitch!

This chapter is going to consist of a long entrance to the main event of it all, and don't worry, ill up date more frequently during the holiday. I have no school, so I can write all I want! It kind of makes you think I have no life. But when I write, its continuous, so I get a lot done in a short amount of time. I'm going to begin with a little story to get rid of the heat from the last chapter. It's long. Enjoy while I put the muffins in to bake.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Let me describe the scenery, or else people may start to get confused. The Festival was a truly spectacular sight. Everywhere you turned there was a different and uniquely styled booth. Different patterned wood designs and ornaments of every color and shape hung from the thoughtfully decorated sighs on top of them. The fluorescent red looking pumpkin shaped lanterns were truly breath taking. When the wind blew, it made them look like they were talking. Different ninja skill challenges awaited any young or old person who dared to try them. There was what seemed like 200 different stands. But, they needed them all, there were a lot of people there. All of them together created a small village looking shape , and it was truly inviting. There was an opened circle in the middle for performances and any one who wanted to challenge another ninja. If you wanted to test you strength, verse a friend, or just plane out have a grudge, that was your place. (But I'll get to that later.) Sakura, Gaara and Ino stood out side the inside entrance to all the fun and games. The festival was filled with gates. It was Amazing how much would these people were willing to take from there forests every year. Ino eagerly awaited the guard to let them in. The guard seemed to be only 12 or 13 years of age. Dressed in what seemed to be a bright yellow jump suit! He had a round face and dark brown skin. He had a very Naruto like mood to him. The young boy approached the group. He seemed very stuck up and just looking for trouble. He kicked a bit of dirt in Sakura's direction. It didn't quit reach Sakura though, but it still got her annoyed.

_Ok, keep it, calm, I can handle this. If I kill some one here, then there is no way I can get a promotion. Breathe in breathe out. _

The little brat stopped two feet in front of Ino and planted his feet firmly in the ground, This was very amusing for Gaara.

_What does this little squirt think he can do._

Gaara could just imagine using sand coffin on him. The way his blood would ripple to the ground made him cringe in excitement.

_Shukaku: You make me sick._

"You cant come through here, no stupid people allowed!", the young child yelled at Ino and sticking out his tongue. The child looked very annoyed and playful. But, Ino didn't think it was very funny. She was supper pissed. Sakura and Gaara stepped back a bit when they saw Ino's vein turn red on her forehead.

_Inner Sakura: Oh crap!_

_Shukaku: She's gonna blow!_

"You little brat. Where the hell do you get off calling me, me, the prettiest kunoichi in Konoha stupid! You little Naruto impersonating short, smelly, snot nosed brat!", Ino screamed at the top of her lungs. She was bright red from lack of oxygen, she didn't even take a breath before she cussed out the little kid.

The little kid stood there blank faced for a moment Then started to cry. Ino was stricken. She just stared at the child cry. Her face slowly changed from its red color to its original color as she finally realized the severity of she he had just done.

"You made a kid cry?" Gaara's deep voice sounded from behind Ino. He wasn't one to ask questions, let alone speak. He had his arms crossed in an obviously aggravated pose. This stupid kid wouldn't let them in. He looked rugged and hard(no , not in that sense) but, he was really thinking about the previous event. The kiss. So, once again he wasn't sane enough to restrain his natural instincts.

Any way…….

Ino quickly kneeled down , to Sakura's surprise.

_No freakin way, Ino got her kimono dirty!_

"The Sukage is my mother, and your gonna pay big time", the child said in between sobs. Ino's face turned into a canvas of sheer panic.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" She was so stupid at times. "Do you like candy? Is there anything I can get you?" Ino rubbed his dark brown hair to try to sooth him. Sakura was the first one to notice, the fatal error in this little kids speech.

Sakura slowly walked up to the kid , and put her hand onto his small shoulders. She stared into his eyes, and through the tears she noticed a very familiar sparkle in them.

She took her first and pounded the kid in the back of the head really hard. All she had to do was see the familiar glint of mischief in the kids eyes to come to her final conclusion. Gaara and Ino's eyes opened wide with surprise , shock, and what the hellness. (It may not be a word, but it makes sense)

_I just kissed a crazy person. _ Gaara hung his internal head in shame. _Damn._

_Shukaku: the crazier they are in the head, the better they are in…._

_Don't even finish that last word. I don't want to hear it!_

"Quit it Naruto!" Sakura's loud annoyed voice boomed through the air. A small cloud of smoke appeared where the small child had been standing and , in the his place sat Naruto. Laughing, and rubbing his head, sat the very angelic Naruto.

"What the heck . You really ticked me off Naruto, Now …." This last part of Ino sentence dragged as she calmed her self. Ino was about to get really ghetto. First she removed her left earring, then her right, one.

"Sakura, hold these for me." She removed her heels and took a giant breath. Sakura backed away slowly after taking the earrings and heels. Sakura looked from Ino to where Gaara was standing. She calculated distance and speed, If Gaara kept on standing there, and Ino was going to do what she thinks she was, then , Gaara better move.

"Now its time to die!" The split second Sakura saw Ino move, she pulled Gaara out of the way. Off course the sand came up to protect him from her touch, but a scratch was better than having him trampled by Ino. Ino ran after Naruto , Gaara and Sakura stared in awe, and Hinata just sat back watching from the tree top near by. It was all her plan to have Naruto act as a child and make a fool of him self. . Who knew Hinata was such a little bastard?

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Now back to the plot……

It was five minutes later…..

Every thing was fine, except for Naruto, he was a bit, disfigured, but he'll live with it.

"Welcome to the festival!", a rather tall dark haired man smiled cheerfully at them. He was dressed in red , and seemed evil inside. His smile was hallow and void of emotions even though it looked so inviting. Hinata stood next to Naruto, Ino had left to go find Sasuke. This meant that Gaara and Sakura had to share a map.

"Try not to get lost. You have two hours before the ninja call outs matches start." The man quieted down and stared at Sakura. "Make sure you don't get hurt." His eyes narrowed at her.

Sakura had felt this before, the same menacing feeling as she felt when she sat down at the table before the speech had started . Some thing was going to happen. However, this time, they were right in the middle of it.

"Thank you", Sakura slowly and cautiously said as she grabbed the map from the man. There was defiantly something wrong here.

_I knew I should have been checking this out instead of making out with Gaara. _

_Gaara………………_

Sakura looked over at him with intrigued eyes. What's going to happen with them. They weren't a couple, far from it in fact. Were they just both in the mood at the same time, caught up in the moment. But, once again , now wasn't the time.

Gaara grunted instead of saying thank you. He didn't show respect or try to be courteous. He just sat back and tried not to kill people. He gently took the map from Sakura. He wanted to see how she reacted to him. She flinch upon contact with his warm skin.

_Still on edge I see. _

Nothing on the map seemed to interest him. It was the same as life, he was similar to Shikamaru in some ways. Nothing was really worth his time. But, there was one thing on the map that caught his eye , the same thing went for Sakura as well.

"Knife throwing?" , Sakura and Gaara both suggested this to each other in unison. They looked at each other for a moment , and realized that the tension between them had been so high, that all they needed to do was talk, and they would be fine . All of a sudden the atmosphere around them wasn't so thick.

So on ward they went……

They walked slowly on the paths that let to there choice booth. Little children, and old ninja alike passed them, saluting the Kazekage and his very hot date as they walked by. Gaara's hands were folded, and Sakura gently hummed to some unknown rhythm.

Gaara listened to the sound of her hum, it was very soothing. He had never paid attention to this stuff in any person before. He loved it. Nothing seemed as sinister and cold as it used to. It was all just one night. Seemingly time less.

Sakura decided to break the silence, it wasn't awkward, it was just very eerie to her.

"So, what are your hobbies? I know you're the Kazekage and all, but you have to find some free time." Sakura asked this question just to get a little glimpse of what Gaara was really like. She didn't want to delve to far into his soul, yet. She knew he was a very disturbed person and needed time to heal from his scarred past. (And since when were her thoughts so poetic?)

Gaara was caught a bit off guard by this question. No one, not even his brother nor, his sister had ever thought to ask him any real personal questions. They feared him. Every one feared him. It's not like it bothered him, he didn't want to talk to them either. They screwed up his life.

"I kill people in my spare time" LOL just kidding(I asked people in my school to look me straight in the face and tell me that they killed people in their spare time . They either laughed or actually seemed serious, but I laughed either way.)

"I read." Gaara stated. He wasn't that much of a talker. What a surprise. He was one of those people that if they ever tried to start a conversation, he would probably ask " How much do you weigh?", or some other awkward question. .

"Really," Sakura used this a pick up sentence to retrieve any extra info, but he just looked a head as they came to another corner. Bland and emotionless as ever. Sakura sighed to her self.

"Have you read Mirage by Kibadelagenshin?" She inquired. Maybe if she started to give some information to him, maybe he would be more opened. He might know that she was interested in him.

"Actually I have," His deep voice was now filled with interest. Some one actually wanted to talk to him, and read fan fiction, and other novels like he did. There was some one else with his interests.

Thus for the rest of the 10 minute walk they engaged in a very active conversation. It turns out they had the map upside down. They had taken twists and turns but, they had circled the booth quit a few times.

It was a shabby little booth. Light grey, and filled with targets of all colors, size and shape. Surprisingly enough , Gaara and Sakura were the only ones that were at the booth. It was vacant other wise. Well, if you didn't count the obese man wearing bright blue that kept trying to wink at her while he handed them the throwing knives.

"Welcome young lady, to needles knives and can't throw for you lives shop. Do you know how to do it" His extremely high pitched voice made Sakura twitch at the sound.

Gaara stared at the knife , then at Sakura, he was contemplating which way to cut her to make her bleed the most. He loved blood.

_What am I doing. I cant have the knife. I might hurt some one. Specifically her. _

_Shukaku: Very nice job. You resisted temptation_

_Shukaku's thoughts: Damn. _

_I heard that._

"Actually, I don't think I'll play, I'll just watch." Gaara handed the knife back to the man with shaking fingers. Sakura could see some restraint in Gaara. That was good.

Sakura took the knife from the man as he winked at he again. His eyes traveled from her shirt to her waist, then to her lips and back to her eyes again. Then he winked at her. Sakura couldn't stand it anymore. She hurled the knife at the target right next to his head, and guess what, she got a bulls eye.

"May I have another knife please", Sakura flicked him an angry smile and took the knives. Gaara stood for a half an hour. Content on just watching Sakura . She was so beautiful at times. It was just amazing. He was entrance, yes him the mighty Gaara was fixated on a girl.

But his fun was stopped when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. Slender fingers gently slide to his chin and made him look into the strangers eyes. It was that girl that had been at the table. Her white blonde hair, and dark purple kimono were unmistaken able. He jerked his head out of her hands and grunted.

"What?" Gaara asked harshly . He didn't like people touching him. All he received was a very sadistic grin and slightly girly giggle. She walked past him and up to the booth where Sakura had been standing.

"Id like to verse this girl to see who's better." This strange girl spat these words with hatred and pure sting." The sexy blonde or, the way to skin bubble gum haired maniac." Sakura was slightly shocked that any one but her and Gaara was here.

Once again Gaara judged Sakura and thought she would cave in and back down. He could just picture her hanging her head in shame.

"Bring it !" Sakura retorted "Hey you, creepy guy, bring us a challenge round on knives." Sakura stared the girl in the eyes. Her purple eye liner was obviously cheep so she already felt confident.

"The first one to hit all targets wins. But the targets are going to be moving" The large man announced this. He was obviously aroused by two hot chicks on the verge of a fight. What a shame he hadn't brought his video camera. He wasn't really concentrating on the game. But with in five second all the targets hand been full. Gaara stared in disbelief and , he actually felt kind of proud.

Sakura turned to the girl and stared her straight in the eyes again. This was a great act of intimidation. But the girl just did it right back.

"Ok, I don't know what you problem is, but we tied fare and square, so get lost ,buzz off , or jump in a lake. Your choice." Sakura cocked her head in an 'get the hell away' type of way. Sakura didn't see what was coming next. ( But I could, I caught it in slow motion)

Slow motion

The girl stared at the knife for a moment. She devilishly contemplated her next move. Eyes flicking back and forth. How to best keep her cover while still following the intended plan. Sasuke had to have his fun too. She stared at Sakura's head , right before she lunged with all her force, the knife intended to stab Sakura's eye. But before the intended impact, all Sakura saw was sand. She slowly fell backwards as Gaara came towards her, he was pissed off and wanted some answers. But the knife didn't just land next to the blond girls head, it slid side ways. IT fell around the barrier and by all twists of faith pushed through Sakura's bun, slicing off a large portion of her hair.

Reality …

The scene you ask?

Sakura lay on the ground covered in sand, and pink strands of her own hair lay next to her head and every where. She was pissed. The Purple kimono wearing bitch was next to her. Face first in the sand, quickly recovering from the event. Gaara was quick to encase her in the sand that had just been covering Sakura.

Right before Gaara squeezed the sand, the girl spoke out a few words to Sakura.

"Oh, I'm sorry about your hair." Her voice was very threatening now. " But there is only on way to fix this matter. I'm calling you out. Beet me in a match, and I'll pay for hair extensions, lose, and I get Sasuke." At this point Gaara squeezed her. But all that was left on the ground was sand intertwined with black petals. It was a very disturbing sight. Gaara looked over to Sakura, he had no sympathy what so ever. He expected her to cry . She had just lost more than half of her hair, again. She had taken a lot of time into regrowing it, after the Chunin exam event. Her hair wasn't the fastest growing.

Gaara slowly moved over to Sakura and stared at her. She seemed to be unconscious.

_So she didn't here any of that? _

_Shukaku: Gaara, Gaara, Gaara………._

_What ?_

_Shukaku: Your doing it again …_

_Doing what?_

Sakura opened her eyes and sat up. "Bring it on Bitch. "

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Thank you for reading through the whole thing. I worked really hard on this. I can see the muffins browning, and if you review ill give you one( insert smile here). I kept you waiting till the end. Review and tell me what you thought. Love kiba. Read Mirage and also tell me what you think. Ill make cookies for that one!


	9. Kiss me kick me, you choose

HI! Sry for not updating this story, while I was writing it I got this whole system freeze. Who knew water could screw up a computer that much? Any way…… I may not get to the fighting part in this chapter. My computers to slow to allow me to submit to much at one time. So, you may have to wait till after this one. But don't worry, my daddy fixes thing! Enjoy! Don't forget to review.

Sakura sat up slowly. Her back arched in pain as she pressed her hand against the area of her head that had received a small slit from the knife. She sat in the oh so beautiful pool of pink strands of hair, black petals, and sand. She pumped her hand with chakra , instantly healing it. Sakura gently slid her hand out of her hair, lingering at the uneven ends. A small pang of pain surged through her heart as she reminisced about the pain she felt the last time she had her hair involuntarily cut off.

Gaara gazed at her from his peripheral vision; he didn't want to look at her directly. He could stand the sight of her sad. He wasn't sure if she was crying yet, but he wouldn't take the chance. He slowly walked over to her, avoiding eye contact. She sat there on the group with eyes that seemed like deep green voids. She stared into space.

Sakura looked around and noticed the black petals every where. Her medical instincts kicked in and she finally realized something. This person is using an illusion jutsu, who ever this person was, they weren't good. The veins in the petals were completely black, showing no life, there the person that was shown, doesn't exist.

Sakura sighed. All her troubles seemed to be coming together all at once. The sad part was that they revolved around Sasuke some how.

Sakura Her the crunching sound of pebbles underneath boots underneath she looked to her side to see Gaara's legs, they were so thin…..

Gaara grew impatient with watching her watch his legs, so he decided to end it.

Gaara bent down to Sakura, He decided to get over his small mini fear and stare her straight in the eyes. Gaara caressed Sakura's smooth cheek with slightly rough hand. They stayed like that for a moment.

_Shukaku: You know this isn't really helping the whole staring thing._

Upon contact to Sakura moaned. This caught both her and Gaara off guard. They stared again. Various thoughts swelled through there held. Not the cleanest thought might I add.

"I'm, going to fight her." Sakura whispered this. She sounded slightly unsure, but quickly covered it up. Gaara caught it though, and knew exactly what to do.

"Are you sure?" He dragged every syllable to its possible extent. " you might be to weak to face some one like that". He mocked her.

"What! I can so take that little witch!" She was fuming, even though she was sitting cross legged. She looked like a mad doll, beautiful no matter what she did. " How dare you doubt me!" She was really angry.

_Why would he say that? I thought he liked me a little bit. Did he think I was actually weak?_

Gaara smirked. Sakura looked at him with a face of annoyance and confusion.

Shukaku: What did you get you self into kid?!!!

Gaara: You'll see.

Gaara didn't even waste a second. He Immediately pressed his lips to hers. Once again they kissed, almost like the time before, but you could see the passion in this one. Sakura and Gaara both pulled away at the same time. Sakura looked confused and a light shade of red.

Gaara looked bold , confident, and slightly happy.

"Are you ready?" He asked again, not a hint of mock or question in his question.

"Yes., I'm ready." They both stood up together. Taking there time, they still had half an hour left. Sakura with her map, Gaara with his Gaaraness I guess…. They started walking down the path. The pebbles made rough noises that were soothing to their ears. Two completely different people walking side by side in a festival all about love. They stopped at one corner and stared at each other.

Near by, there was a lonely stand filled with candy and sweets. No one had bought anything. It was filled with black and green rotten looking candy. No wonder. The operator of that booth was overjoyed to see that some people had finally visited.

_Yes!!! I finally got some customers!_

Gaara and Sakura held hands, intertwined their fingers and continued to walk. They were glad they had met each other again since the Chunin exams. Glad they both existed.

The poor old woman wept in the corner of her shop until the two left.

The woman took out a cell phone and dial a few numbers. She stood in the shadows and poofed into smoke, leaving a very angry, evilly grinning Sasuke in her place. He was know wearing a black vest with black scrunched long shorts.

"Get ready Orochimaru….."

Dun Dun Dun

What going to happen Next! I don't even know, I better think of something fast!

Review ! I'll up date when my computers gets fixed. Don't worry. Cya!


	10. Sand in between your toes

Yay! I up dated, Sry it took me a while. I've been very busy. I got a myspace! Yay! I don't have cool pics but its getting there. Woot! I think I put the URL on my profile. Check it out!

545454545545

Sakura leaned against the iron bars of her cage. Her bare feet pressed against the cold metal. She was very annoyed. When she arrived to the stadium for the battles, she was graced with some very annoying rules.

1) You must enter the stadium in one of the following ways;

A) Naked slathered with oil. (The old way)

B) Or brought in by dancers in a cage.

Sakura picked the cage. But the dancers weren't there, so she was just going to be carried by the regular people.

Second of all, she had to split with Gaara. He has to go watch the matches to prevent any unfair play.

_Yeah right. Gaara would probably be the one killing the contests early so he could speed up the matches_.

She smiled at this thought. Gaara was a very funny guy.

The last thing that pissed her off was her out fit. Every one threw a big fit about her not wanting to fight with out any clothes on. So they gave her different clothes to fight in, as well as her opponent. Ginger was the blonde girls name. Sakura wore a black mini skirt, with mini shorts underneath. It was small, flexible and actually quite comfortable, but it was really weird to fight like that. She would be very scared to do a flip in the air, or lift up her leg for a seismic kick. They had also given her an equally short red shirt. It has long sleeves and looked torn at the bottom. It exposed her six packs and inny belly button.

Yup, Sakura was very annoyed.

There were to be three stages to the fight. But she had no idea what the stages would be. She was completely clueless. Her cage was small, the room was dark, and she was about to blow!

That's why it was a great thing when she heard the audience cheer. She was the first match. Sakura could hear the noise of the dancers in the arena.

_So she's entering first. I better get more applause than her._

Then it was finally her turn. Sakura tried her best to look ready for battle. She flinched slightly when she was hit by the light, but she had gotten an even louder applause that other girl.

The stadium was like the Chunin stadium. How ever the walls and ground were made out of metal. The ground was covered with ten feet of sand, it was very hard to stand on with out sinking. One wrong move and you'd be stuck underneath it. It was the Kage's choice wether or not he would save them from the sandy fate or let them suffocate. So incase you sank, it was Gaara's choice wether or not you lived. A man with brown hair and a tooth pick stood in between the two cages.

He walked slowly to Sakura's and smiled at her.

_Cool! It's Genma._

Genma looked from her eyes to her breasts.

_Inner Sakura: Ah man, it's Genma_

He then walked over to the other opponent and let her out of her cage as well.

So there they stood. The same way you would stand at the Chunin exams. They had there angles covered in sand, and they were ready, and unarmed for the moment.

"Welcome every one!" His voice echoed through out the crowd.

"This match represents the struggle between Leaf and waterfall." He sighed deeply.

"And this year, its two girls who will battle it out to see which village are stronger."

Every one whistled and cheered.

Sakura looked across from her. Her opponent was dressed the same way she was, except the blonde girl had on a purple shirt. Her eyes glared at Sakura. If looks could kill, Sakura would be a bloody mess right now. But Sakura just grinned and return the glare ten fold. The audience went wild. They could feel the tension.

_Inner Sakura: Oh girl, we have to beat her._

_Sakura: Cha!!_

_Inner Sakura: Hey, that's my line!_

_Sakura: To bad._

_GAARAGAARAGAARA_

Gaara sat eagerly in his chair. He had changed from his earlier attire to the formal kage wear. The sand around the stadium shifted slightly.

Gaara stared at Sakura's slender form from above the ring. He was tuned into the sand and could feel Sakura's ankles shaking.

_Is she eager or scared?_

_Shukaku: You need to have more faith in her. Does she look scared to you?_

_Gaara: No I guess she's more feisty then I thought. _

_Shukaku: That's so hot._

_Gaara: Yeah, it is._

"I'm going to enjoy this match more than I thought." Gaara looked to his left, and saw Sasuke Grinning with pleasure as he watched Sakura brace her self for the fight.

Why had he been there?

Well, he was one of the strongest people in Konoha, so he was honored with the task of giving the weapons to the fighters. He stood still, holding two silver Katans in his hand, one had a blue handle, and the other had a black handle. Gaara glared at him from the corner of his eyes. He knew Sakura had previously loved this guy. But was that love still there?

"The first match will be a challenge of swordsmanship."

The audience cheered again.

Back on the field.

Sasuke appeared in the middle of the two girls. He held each arm out , the tip of the sword facing each girl. Sakura looked at him questioningly. He obviously wasn't coming to her , so she had to go to him.

_Lazy bum._

Sakura took the black sword, and returned to her spot.

Sasuke stared at her with astonishment. She hadn't at all been effected by his presence.

_If things keep going like this… the plan wont work. _

Genma tapped Sasuke on the shoulder.

"You can go now." Genma waited a minute for Sasuke to leave the ring.

"Now" Genma looked both ways then stepped back, "Begin!"

Sakura blinked in surprise. The blonde girl came at her with amazing speed. The sand flew up wards with each chakra filled step the girl took. This sent a cloud of sand flying behind her. This girl was almost as fast as Lee with out his weights. Ginger swung her sword, and aimed strait for Sakura's heart. The metal tip ready to pierce through Sakura's soft flesh. Sakura braced her self, muscles tightened and breath held. She met the blade with her own . A loud echo of both blades sounded through out the now silent audience. Sparks flew . The force from the blow cause both opponents to be thruster back wards. Sakura landed head first, then the rest of her body flipped over, sending a painful cracking sensation down her neck area.

The audience gasped, thinking Sakura broke her neck

Gaara shuttered. He couldn't let Sakura die. He had finally found some one that had feelings for him, then she had to die in a matched that he had to supervise. Gaara was about to go cactus jack on some one if Sakura got hurt. But before he could move….

Shukaku: Gaara, calm down..

Gaara: Did you not just see that!

Shukaku: Just wait a bit.

Gaara sat back in his stone chair and crossed his arms. He fumed silently. Sasuke stared at him curiously, then back to the match.

_I know Sakura; she can do better than this._

Sakura was quick to recover despite the pain. She placed her hand to her neck and healed the strained muscles. She stood up and got back into her battle stance.

Once again the crowd cheered. Ino and the gang were seated some where near by Gaara, and were going wild.

Ginger raised her head up from the sand, she had fallen flat onto her back, but it had racked all of her bones, and caused a temporary paralyzing effect.

Sakura charged at her, her speed increased with every step. She jumped high into the air above Ginger, and was ready to make contact.

Ginger looked up and saw Sakura flying towards her. She screamed with fear then rolled over. Sakura's blade landed right next to her head. A small cloud of sand extended out ward. They exchanged glances and smiled. It was going to be a good battle. The other girl got to her feet and did a back flip away.

A breeze blew.

They stood and glared at each other. Sakura's short hair blew back wards. Gingers long hair blew into her face slightly. Their cloths moved in the same fashion.

They both charged again. Their blades met and stayed there. This was now a battle of endurance and a battle of strength, who could hold out the longest before the other girls arms gave out.

The crowd was silenced. The air was thick that it seemed hard to breath. Gaara and Sasuke stood bewildered from the over view stand. They had both lost there composure and looked completely surprised.

The only sound heard was the squeaky rubbing of the metals against one another as the pressure caused more sparks to flew.

Sakura's arm crack as the blonde girl increased pressure. She grinded with an evil malice at Sakura. She pressed harder onto the sword and began to push Sakura into the sand. Her knees were covered now.

"So I guess I get Sasuke", the girls teeth a smirk just like the one Sasuke had on his face when he had cornered Sakura in her own mind.

All sakura could do was sink, and try to hold off the sword. Her mid section was now underneath the sand.

_Inner Sakura: Looks like you need a bit of help._

_Sakura: Yeah, it would be much appreciated._

_Inner Sakura: I'm going to pull from your friend ships to get the energy. Hold on for a little bit more._

_Sakura: I'll try._

Sakura's shoulders were being covered.

"I'm not fighting for Sasuke!." The girl paused on adding pressure for a moment.

"What!" Her eyes opened wide. It was as if Sakura had completely shocked and surprised her. But for the love of mother and daughter Sakura couldn't figure out why.

"I have friends, and family who care about me." Sakura paused for a moment thinking about what she had just said. She had finally uncovered the whole mystery of her life. Her friends actually did care about her. She had just never let them in. She then began to accumulate chakra into her heals.

"Gaara cares, Naruto cares, and, Ino cares , they all help me out.", She began to raise from the sand, she was now fully standing on the surface. A bit sandy, but ready and refreshed to fight.

Sakura pressed full against the sword and sent a burst of Chakra into it.

"I don't need Sasuke!" Sakura yelled in rage.

Ginger flew back a couple of feet.

They both took a moment to get ready. They regained their composures and started running towards each other.

This was it, the final charge. This would determine who had won the first battle. They ran at each other. The audience was unable to see as the sand flew up around the two girls. There was a moment of impact and the whole stadium was filled with sand.

Gaara stared eagerly once again.

Sasuke's hands were covered in sweat.

Ino and every one else in there group sat watching. Silent.

Genma looked through the dust and could make out the two figures.

Both girls stood straight. Their chins pointed upward slightly. Sakura's blade pricked the skin of the other girls neck, and Sakura had a blade resting on her shoulder, lightly digging into her skin.

If one of the girls made a move, they both would die.

"The first match is over." Genma announced slowly as the sand settled back onto the ground.

"Tie!"

The crowd hesitated for a moment, them went wild.

KIBAKIBAKIBAKIBA

Hahahah that took me so long to write. There is going to be more action, and maybe a little more romance in the next chapter. Feel free to look at my myspace. And my profile, basically…, do what ever you want to do. I got Naruto Uzumaki cronicles! Its not that good yet, but I'll be kicking butt in no time. So review, the faster you do, that faster I'll have up the new chapter, I promise. Did you like the battle?


	11. i bet you ten bucks that you love me

Hey! Sry for the delay. I'm not dead. Incase you thought I was, I'm still breathing. Please enjoy this chapter. Nicknamed the Shmexy chapter. (Hahaha Narukun427)

FESTIVAL OF LOVE.

"Tie!", Genma announced with obvious distraction in his voice. Seeing two girls fight in front of him really got him excited. If you know what I mean.

The sand particles settled down around the battle field. The audience still going wild after seeing one of the most memorable battles in their lives. Sakura was breathing heavily, her lungs irritated from the sand that had been inhaled. Her green eyes still burned fiercely with animal like rage towards her opponent. Her lips painted thinly with red by her own blood, and her body bruised and scratched from sand contact, and blade contact. All in all, she was a mess. Her now semi short hair strewn about her shoulders wet rough and matted from the sand, and her fingers daring her to slice of Gingers neck. No doubt that Ginger was also tempted my the choice to just swing her silver sword and destroy her opponent. But That wasn't in the plan. Her shirt was torn in the back, she had equal scratches and cuts to match Sakura's. Two bloody war goddesses. Or should I say one a Goddess and the other a God.

An intense glare was exchanged between the two girls, the audience quieted at this sudden increase in attitude. The two simultaneously dropped their swords and took a step back from one another.

Gingers purple tinted lips began to whisper muted words, "I going to kick your..",

"As I was saying. We have a record set in the history of the Festival. This is the first time ever a battle has ended in a tie." He paused and looked at the exhausted woman , their silver blades sinking into the sand next to them. He could either continue on with the next match and ignore the demanding looks on their faces, or he could have a break. Where he could find a girl… to occupy his time….

"We will be taking an hour break in order to allow the fighters to rest a bit before they enter the surprise match."

Inner Sakura: I love surprises!

Sakura: You're a freak.

Inner Sakura: Takes one to know one.

Sakura: Why do I even bother with you.?

Inner Sakura: Because we're the same person.

Sakura: I hate you.

Inner Sakura: I know.

"So, please eat, drink, and chick out the games. I MEAN CHECK OUT THE GAMES. Cya later.", With the announcement finally over, Genma was gone, materialized away only to leave a pile of leaves behind.

Sakura let out a deep sigh and watched Ginger walk of the arena. She took note of her slight limp and much more labored breathing pattern. Sakura too began to walk away , faster, straight through the doors and out to all the stands and energized people. She got a few stares from amazed on lookers, but none dared to bother her, she seemed tired. The festival continued on with out her. She was disconnected. Battle fatigue really gets to you.

_Now, where is the medical area?_

Sakura took two steps onto the solid stone ground. She closed her eyes and admired the cool breeze that kissed her hot sweaty face. She took in a deep breath and forgot to breath out when she heard her name called. A familiar annoying voice called to her.

"Sakura.", the cold voice said with ease.

"Sasuke", she said , almost as if she sickened by the word that had just come out of her mouth. "What do you want?" ,She matched his cold glare tenfold.

He had changed his cloths. He wore black pants, much like the Kazekage, and a light blue long sleeved shirt with cryptic blue lettering on the it. Its spelled out his, name. And hers.

Sakura eyed him.

_Why is my name on his shirt? _

She hated his personality, but she couldn't help her self from relapsing into old habits. She thought of all times they had worked together as team mates, and the times she had spent rejecting Naruto to wait for him. In the process of reminiscing, she spaced out staring into Sasuke's eyes, but he could tell that they weren't really making eye contact.

_So she still does have feeling for me. Hmm… my plan will work after all._

"Sakura, will you come with me for a moment?"

With out hesitation, Sakura followed. She passed stands and booths of all sorts, but none of them were as interesting as the man next to her. She was completely captivated by his presence. They pulled into an alley in between two booths. Sakura finally became aware of her surroundings. She couldn't see anybody, and she didn't know where she was. She was most defiantly hidden from sight. Invisible. Only a small candle on the wall light the area. But it was black, dark light. Small snakes appeared on the ground. Only Sasuke could see them.

"What do you want?", she asked nervously, all her bravery forgot, "I need to get ready for the next match." She backed away from him. The dark light illuminated Sakura's exposed 6- pack. Her curves looked delicious, soft. Her appearance was stunning.

_I guess I have time in my plan, Orochimaru shouldn't mind._

"I want you." Sasuke responded. Her wrapped his arms around her waist , pulling her to him. He rocked his hips side to side against hers. Gaining pleasure with every movement. Sakura's eyes widened at the words, and the action. But she gave into temptation, and matched the pace, allowing her self to live the dream that she had always wanted. To have Sasuke want her. He was warm, and smelled like sand. Like some one else she wanted to do this with . Gaara.

He came to her mind. Stopping her selfish inappropriate actions.

He whispered into her ear. His hot breath dancing across her cheek.

"Sharingan."

S.H.A.R.I.N.G.A.N.

With in moments, Sakura was engulfed in darkness. They had returned to the same place they had been in before. Sasuke clearly visible in front of her.

"Sasuke, stop this, I don't want to have to hurt you.", she had recover from her thought less temptation state. . She was back to her self, shock and surprise forgotten. Her hands in fists, ready for a chance to attack.

"You wouldn't hurt me Sakura." , He paused and smirked, "You know you still love me." He walked closed to her and began to circle around her. A small jolt of shock traveled up and down her spin.

_Sakura :Do I?_

_Inner Sakura: No you don't._

"I'm the only thing you can't get rid of Sakura."

_Inner Sakura: like a bug up my ass._

_Sakura: Is it really true?_

_Inner Sakura: what, the bug thing?_

_Sakura: No, the loving him thing._

_Inner Sakura: No, its not!_

"You know it's true Sakura"

_Inner sakura: Stop listening to him! He's a freak. He asks you to follow him right after a match. Then he molests you in a dark alley. Then! He accuses you of loving him! Do you really want to listen to this guy. If I had to choose one guy in the entire universe to write FREAK across his forehead and tattoo the word onto his back, it would be Sasuke._

"I'm the only one you have Sakura. I'm the only constant in your life."

"Shut up", Sakura angrily whispered, barely audible, yet filled with rage.

He leaned in closer to her. " What?"

"I said , Shut up." , for the second time today she punched him in the face. Hard.

"I have some one here for me. And you want to know something…"

"I love him! Not you!"

B.A.C.K. T.O. R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.

Gaara was mad. NO. Gaara was pissed. He had immediately left to find Sakura after the match. He rushed through stands and hordes of fan girls to find her. Bursting through doors, and cutting through ice cream lines. She was no where. Then when he decided to stop of a spit second to concentrate He saw her.

With Sasuke.

Who was feeling her up.

On instinct Gaara summoned his sand. A small wall struck Sasuke sending him crashing to the ground , as far away from Sakura as possible. He instantly ran to her side in the dark alley , greeted with her exuberant eyes.

He looked into hers fiercely with out right rage. He was about to smack her. How could she do this to him, betray him when he had needed her the most. He had finally began to see the world in a new light, beginning to understand why things were the way they were. He was actually , happy. But, seeing Sakura with some one else robbed him of his life. His sanity.

_Sasuke's going to die._

_Shukaku: You got that right. _

"What do you think you were doing with her?" Gaara pounded Sasuke's abdomen over and over.

"I'm going to kill you"

They were now out of the alley.

The scene you ask?

Gaara held a rather pale looking Sasuke a foot above the ground. His raven hair dangled off of his shoulders in the same way his feet did. Gaara's rough red hair , blew in the cold wind, and his anger emitted through out the area. The aura was deadly. Gaara was death glaring Sasuke, completely oblivious to his surrounding. They were in the section of the area where no one else dared to go. It was to old. And creepy. His tiger like mood seemed to do nothing to bother Sasuke however. It was like he had planned for this to happen. They just stood there. With in an instant Sasuke vanished. Materialized away.

_That is the last time let him get away. He messes with Sakura again, I'm permanently putting his lights out._

Sakura came running out of the alley as well. She looked ok, she was a bit battered from the match, but besides that, every thing seemed well with her. But what they both couldn't see was the snakes forming chains around her. She was invisibly bounded. But to what?

She slowed down and slowly approached him. Never breaking eye contact. He growled at her. You would almost see the daggers in his eyes. He turned around so that he didn't have to face her. She brought to much pain right now. Real pain.

"Sakura, I thought you cared about me. You betrayed me just like every one else. I am alone. You have shown me that."

"Gaara." She spoke softly.

"What?",

"Shut up.", she was behind him now.

"What did you just sa.."

She didn't let him finish, she kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slowly wrapped his around her waist. Sharing a moment, living a dream. Gaara gently sucked on her bottom lip , running his on along Sakura's parted lips. Sakura gently played with Gaara's soft red hair. Copying his movements. They pulled back, still leaving their other parts connected.

"I love you Gaara.", Gaara hesitated.

_Love? I think I know what it is now._

"I love you too Sakura. I never knew what love was. I thought it was weakness. But it's now my greatest strength."

They kissed again.

"i need to get back to the arena. My match starts in 10 minutes."

"Do you really have to?," Gaara slightly whined.

"Yes, I do."

"Fine.", he swept her off her feet bridal style once again.

Sakura giggled, "What are you doing?"

"Escorting you to the match."

With that , Gaara took off running in the direction of the stadium. The sun still shining, he made his way with his beautiful new love. His first love.

W.I.T.H. S.A.S.U.K.E.

Sasuke watched with surprised eyes as Sakura had confessed her love to Gaara.

_That's a huge set back._

He pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed the numbers 6666666.

"Orochimaru act quickly. We need to take her in the next match."

Orochimaru snake like words slithered through the phone and into Sasuke's ears.

"I will, after all . Darkness is my element.

F.E.S.T.I.V.A.L.O.F.L.O.V.E.

Oooooo!!! Big intense battle coming up. Can you handle it! Review. Please! It'll make me up date in two weeks. I COMPLETELY PROMISE. Thank you for the people that stuck with me and still stayed on the alert list. It made me feel so happy. Love ya!

Kibadelagenshin


	12. Black out

Hey! I'm joining my school track team! Yay! But, I may die in the process! My friends say it's like hel So, I joined! Woot! If I update less…ha-ha, who am I kidding, I'm almost about to finish the story, but don't worry, I'll make sure it rocks your socks. The first part is about Genma, so bear with me here. This is a long chapter! O k! Enough talking! Time to enjoy the next chapter of.

BARE WITH THE LONGNESS BEFORE THE Battle SCHENE!

F.E.S.T.I.V.A.L.O.F.L.O.V.E.

It was a bright evening, the sun still hung high in the sky. Wooden abandoned stands sang out a warning not to come near to them. Something odd was going to happen today. Something sinister. But the day was still beautiful; it's events yet to be written into history.

Genma spit his tooth pick to the ground with an extremely satisfied grin plastered onto his face. Red lipstick marks trailed from his smooth forehead, down to the crook of his neck and under his shirt. He had spent his time well while he had waited that hour. Under his hair, he pondered deeply about a constant problem that had plagued him for years. This one simple obstacle had always stood in his way, blocking something he had desired so much.

_Man, I can't wait till the matches are done with. I can finally try to win that inflatable cow. I always hit 3 out of 4 of those stinking milk cans! I'm a freaking ninja and I still can't win that game._

Genma, with no way to vent out his sudden frustration kicked the side of an empty wooden stand. The sound echoed across the other empty ones. It was a hallow shattering noise that sent eerie shivers down his spine. It took him a while to get a reaction.

"AH! That hurt like a…ah!!" Genma backed up slowly. He sank to the ground, sitting on his butt, staring up at the sky. There were no clouds to be seen, but the sun was not welcoming. A very odd feature had developed for it. Two beautiful rainbows had formed encircling the hot burning orb.

_Why am I even here? I should be back with the other Jounin watching the tournament. I shouldn't be the one doing this again. _

"Get ready Orochimaru" a distant whispering voice was heard from the shack behind him. The sound was shortly followed by the hanging up of a cell phone.

"Orochi who?!" Genma whipped his head around faster than the speed of light. His hair moved rapidly with his head, blurring his vision. He had most defiantly heard that name. The name that had brought so much fear to the village of Konoha. His name. The snake like inhuman person that had taken out the 4th Hokage, leaving so many to greave. Yes. He had heard it. It was Orochimaru's name.

Before Genma could even get up, he could sense that some on was behind him. Breathing heavily as if previously attacked or excited. He could even go as far as to say injured. This person's hair rested onto his shoulders, slightly moving back and forth with their breath. Glancing onto his shoulder he observed the color. It was Raven.

"How much did you hear?" calm crept over Sasuke's voice, trickling thought the air, irritated Genma.

"I didn't hear anything". Short, sweet, to the point.

Sasuke glared intensely at the back of Genma's head. He grinned wickedly as he contemplated the consequences for this little lie. He slid a kunai out from under his sleeve. He tested it on his thumb. He drew the edge of the blade across his finger, drawing a small amount of blood. He Sharingan eyes turned a lighter shade of red when he did this. While he was under the control of Orochimaru, he could afford to loose any battles, so if he was going to loose, his Sharingan would dissipate, and turn into a completely new form.

He grinned again.

He bent Genma's neck back, pressing the blade lightly against his skin. A heavy silence surrounded them.

"I'll ask you again, what did you hear?" Sasuke who was almost sure of the man's next answer, and began to concocted plans to kill him when he confessed. How ever, he was a bit surprised by his answer.

"I heard nothing."

Sasuke growled angrily.

"Do you really want to die here? You have so much left in life, and your just going to give it up for your stupid village?!"

"Yup"

_Good bye inflatable cow. I guess I may never win you after all._

Sasuke growled angrily. He sounded like a small child that hadn't gotten his desired present. With a swift and fluid motion, he jabbed the former proctor in the side of the head with the end point of the kunai, simply knocking him unconscious. With another swift fluid motion Sasuke formed a chain of hand signs.

A large cloud of smoke appeared around him. A new Genma stepped out of the cloud with an unsatisfied look on his face. Sasuke kicked the old Genma over to a corner. He then began to walk in the direction of the stadium, muttering silent curses under his breath.

S.T.A.D.I.U.M

The phony Genma stood in the middle of the stadium, eying down both opponents that stood before him. He took note of the odd stare he was receiving from the blonde one. Their eyes met for an instant. A silent message had been exchanged. They knew who they were, more importantly, they knew who the other person was. This moment had gone completely unnoticed by Sakura; something so crucial came across as something so small and trivial at the moment.

Sakura was bursting with energy. You could almost see her bouncing around on top of the sand. Gaara could feel her movements, but the crowd had no idea that this young ninja had just found her first love. hopefully, her only love. Gaara smiled at her energy. Her sent still lingered on him from when he had carried her. They had said so many things to each other. So many things.

_Sakura: Oh my gosh! I'm so excited! Once this match is over Gaara's going to do what he promised!_

_Inner Sakura: Yeah, I almost passed out when I heard him whisper that in your ear on the way here._

_Sakura: Do you think he's done it before._

_Inner Sakura: Multiple times. Hello! Have you seen all those people, and how he looks. He most defiantly has experience._

_Sakura: Shut up! You make it sound so taboo! We're just dyeing the tips of our hair the same color!_

_Inner Sakura: Oh! That's what he said?_

_Sakura: You weren't listening were you? You just hear what you want to hear…._

_Inner Sakura: What? A girl can't fantasize?_

_Sakura: …………………………_

Sakura and Ginger had gone through yet another outfit change. They both were dressed the same this time. They had on what a belly dancer outfit. There shirts were halter tops, light blue with the tie loosely resting on their back. They wore Light blue pants that hung low on their waists, exposing their toned bodies. Sakura had species of freckles on her belly, she had completely mastered, the; "I'm flawed but I still rock it" look.

After Sasuke had decided that a long enough amount of time had passed, he decided to begin the match. The audience had began to get a bit uneasy with the long wait.

"For this next match I am pleased to announce that we have yet another first. This match will be completely different from any other one that has ever occurred before your eyes prior to this day."

"Get on with it already!", Ino screamed from the stands.

Sasuke swallowed and continued. "We are going to completely black out the stadium!", Gasps arose from the audience. Whispers echoed through out the stadium, things like; "What?", "Is he crazy?" , and the traditional "What the hell", could be heard. All these thoughts circulated in Sakura's mind. But she kept it to herself; she just had to be ready for what was thrown in her way. Something caught her eye though. The smirk on both Genma's face and on Ginger's face was identical. The same malice hidden behind them, all of it directed at her.

_Ok…then….._

"The choice of weaponry for this match is crystal Katanas. They are the sharpest in Konoha, transported her just for the tournament.", Sasuke paused, he thought deeply about how he could use Genma's body to his advantage. "So, bring down the Swords!"

Gaara stared at Genma, something was very weird here. But he pushed his suspicions to the furthest parts of his mind. He just looked at the stadium. His thoughts were consumed with various thoughts about Sakura's safety. She was strong , but, this girl was tricky.

_Where is the idiot that supposed to bring the swords?_

_Shukaku: You're the idiot you idiot. _

_Gaara: OH!_

Gaara hesitantly grabbed the crystal blades and materialized onto the battle field. He was obviously ticked off. That stupid bum A.K.A Sasuke hadn't been there to do his job . He actually had to move! Gaara did not like doing what he didn't have to. He only wanted to do what he wanted to do.

He traveled over to Sakura and handed her the blade, gently resting it into her hand, they met eyes for a second. A deep fire burned bright in their gaze. Then he turned around and basically threw the sword at the other girl. Then he was gone, back to his stadium to watch the obviously interesting match.

"Now. It's time to start. The count down"

"10" , Sasuke yelled. The audience soon joined in.

"9" Sakura got into her stance, tensing, getting prepared for battle.

"8" Ginger glared her hardest.

_Sasuke better be ready._

"7" Gaara burned holes into the stadium with his intense glare. It was as if he had Bazooka's for eyes. He wasn't going to be able to see Sakura, but he could feel her chakra, and feel the sand. He was ready.

"6" Ino and the gang all counted nervously. They had kept quiet due to intense action. They would continue to do that. Hinata and Naruto grasped hands, hoping for Sakura to do her best. Ino said a silent prayer for her friend, and for the hope that she would walk out alive.

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

Blackout.

Sakura faltered slightly, she couldn't see anything. The sudden darkness took her by great surprise. Her breath stayed stable as she closed her eyes and listened to the sand. She concentrated her hearing . It was her only useful asset right now. She heard the foot steps coming closer. Faster. She held her blade up to block, and was met with that of another's. With out warning, she received a kick to the mid section. She jumped back wards landing onto her feet. Hacking up blood as she did so. She fell to the ground. A loud thud was heard through out the stadium. But she recovered quickly.

The audience heard the cough. But they didn't know who's it was.

With quickness, sakura focused again, Sakura heard the wind cut the air next to her. She had to move. She rolled forward and did a spin kick. . Her foot met and hit hard with her opponent's body. Her nails dug into the sand, lifting her self up by the hand, and rotating her body into Circles. This sent small sand hurricane in the direction of the body. However, she didn't hear any impact.

_Damn._

Gaara panicked when he heard the cough, it wetted the sand with blood. He could feel it.

Sakura stood again, listening. Above her this time. She stepped to the side and vertically sliced. She met blade again.

"You know I can see you.", A snake like voice hissed. Ginger growled angrily . She grabbed the hand that Sakura had used to hold her blade, and dug her nails deep into the skin.

"That's impossible.", Sakura bit back the pain, and summoned her strength.

"I am darkness. This is my element."

The voice disappear as quickly as it had come. Nothing was making sense. But, there was one thing Sakura understood. Pain.

A blade cut her arm, it had come up from the ground. Her warm liquid life fluid spilled again Sakura grabbed the blade of Ginger's sword, reddening her skin more as new blood flowed. Using her own crystal weapon, she swung at where the enemy should have been located. Her tinted red lips smiled when she had made contact.

"Gotcha"

"NO you don't." Gingers voice replied. After being hit, the snake like girl jumped back. She took out a few kunai. Five to be exact. She hurtled them in Sakura's direct. 2 out of the 3 had hit her. They both pierced her sliced arm, rendering it useless. She screamed. Despite the pain, and without hesitation Sakura charged at the spot from where the kunai had been thrown. This was her chance. She finally found her opponents location. Her blade scratched the sand behind her, as she dragged it faster with her chakra enhanced steps, she lifted it and it made contact with the midsection of her opponent. The body flailed as it received the pain. It's system shut down. The enemies body sank it the floor.

Gaara was panicking in his mind. He could feel a lot with his sand, but the question was, what was he feeling? He felt blood, swords, kunai, and lastly, a body.

Sakura sighed heavily. She said a prayer, "rest in piece" For a moment, every thing seemed to go deadly silent. Quieter than before. Sakura opened her eyes. Only to see white Sharingan like eyes , glaring daggers into hers. Though the lights were out , she could see the orbs clearly.

"I'm not dead yet", a deep voice whispered from beside her. Sakura twitched at the sudden closeness.

"Sasuke?"

Sakura went flying, a hard fist had made contact with her face. Before she could even hit the ground, she had been kicked up into the air. The audience gasped as they heard a loud cracking sound. Sakura had broken more than just a few ribs.

"Your going to regret ever giving me up"

With these final words, he punched her downward, and ended his combo with a drop kick, sending her body pounding into the sand.

Silence…..

"Snake chain Jutsu!" the invisible snake that had interlocked around Sakura's stomach had become thinker, binding her to a wall of snakes. A small recollection of the alley flashed trough Sakura's mind, be fore she slipped into darkness.

Gaara knew something was wrong from the moment he had felt a hard thud after a body had already went down. Without hesitation he ordered a Jounin to turn the lights back on. The sight his eyes met with was not a pleasant one at all. Sakura's limp blood stained body dangled in the air. A chain of snakes wrapped around her as a wall behind her began to form. She was dying. Her once color filled cheeks grew pale. Her eyes were closed, shut from what would seem like her ultimate doom. The worst part was who had done it. The villain behind the crime. Sasuke Uchiha. He stood with a crystal dagger pointing towards Sakura's neck. Blood lust in his newly formed Sharingan eyes. Behind him stood some one he never though he would see. A certain snake like human with invisible powers ,Orochimaru.

"That's it", Gaara arose from his chair," I'm really going to put some lights out".

K.I.B.A.D.E.L.A.G.E.N.S.H.I.N.

I must …………………………………Sleep! It's so late. The story is almost over. It's all coming to an end. I really hope you enjoyed it! Please review! If any one drew any pictures for my story on deviant art, tell me, I'd love to see it, or make a link. Thanks for reading! Please review! This is my life here!


	13. Gamble My Life Away

I know I said that this would be the last chapter, but I had to much stuff left to explain. There for, this is the second to last chapter. So sorry for the delay. Please enjoy! I know! Please don't slap me.. I'll up date in like three weeks with the finale chapter.

K.I.B.A

With a roar, sand tendrils burst into the air of the stadium like an explosion of in human force. A hurricane of gigantic proportions revolved twisted and rotated in the center of the stadium sending dangerously vigorous grains of sand whipping about. From within the eye of the storm stood a fiery fierce Gaara with a not to happy look gracing his anger filled face. Sasuke's attention was diverted from his predominantly bleeding soon to be child barer. Well, at least that's what he wanted her to be. Sakura twitched somewhat on her uncomfortable wall of sinister snakes. They scratched her skin, leaving small lines in their tracks..

"Sasuke, I'm going to kill you.", Gaara's eerily calm voice sounded a bit above a whisper as the hurricane around him died down. He took a step forward.

"Was that supposed to scare me?", he smirked, " I'm not as easily defeated as my partner here", he motioned to the unconscious blonde girl to his left.

Gaara didn't seem to here this. He just seemed to get more calm. After all he was preparing to murder some one. In the back ground he heard Sasuke's voice. But, that wasn't what his main focus was at the moment. Right now, it was Sakura. Her cheeks where pale and lacking her usually peachy cheery aspect. She looked cold, and most defiantly uncomfortable.

Sasuke just stared at Gaara with a smug look on his face. He knew he had it won. There was no way that the plan could go wrong. He was going to trade Sakura to Gaara, if he would let Orochimaru reign in his place. But, he wasn't actually going to give her back. You see, the snakes on the wall on which she shivered on, was not just your ordinary I'm- Going- to- Kill- You jutsu. Oh no. It was The Soul Selection Jutsu. If his plans worked out well, then he would have power, his woman, and the strongest children the world has ever seen.

That's if the plan worked.

In the sand beside Sakura lay the deadly still body of Ginger. Her cold gritty skin began to peel away from the body. Inch by inch it crawled away from the bones. Ripping and tearing and forming a completely new being. A whole knew form gradually developed as Gaara and Sasuke Death glared each other into infinite oblivion.

" I would give up now if I were you. With the tremendous amount of power I have, you wouldn't stand a chance." , Sasuke continued on like this for a while. He made some pretty hurtful sinful remarks. But Gaara wasn't listening to him. No, he was planning an extremely animated murder as already stated.

_Gaara: Shukaku, lend me your strength. I swear that I will kill this fool. His blood will be mine._

_Shukaku: We'll do it for Sakura. I like the Kid. I deem her worthy, you can date her._

_Gaara; Since when did I need your permission?_

_Shukaku: Since when haven't you needed my permission._

_Gaara: I'm going to get rid of you._

_Shukaku: Why?_

_Gaara: Why not?_

_Shukaku: Why?_

_Gaara: Why no… I'm not dealing with this! Lend me your strength. We have butt to kick._

_Shukaku: Heck, yeah._

" You can't win, stop now.", Sasuke finished with the smuggest smirk the world could ever imagine, painted onto his conniving annoying skin scrawling lips. A silence followed.

Gaara made complete and total eye contact with him. It was like matches. One strike, two strike three… and fire.

The ground shook, sand once again revolved around Gaara , engulfing his entire body, like a blanket of uncontrollable madness. A hurricane of pure sandy death whipped the surroundings. He was trusted in to the air with his own force. The sand clung to his body creating a completely new demon like form .

Sasuke shielded his eyes from the transformation. He braced himself with his crystal daggered plunged into the ground. "What's going on?" , he shouted to no on eimparticular.

Just like that, it all stopped. Gaara landed on to the ground. One foot at a time.

From head to toe, he was a warrior. Shukaku merged with the deadly wrath of Gaara. The coldest heart of a beast and the hatred of a human. It was a potent combination. Gaara's hair stood in spiky tendrils of fiery red. Vibrating with the pulsation of his rapid heart beat. He wore a black martial art style shirt with the Japanese symbol for Love encrusted in gold on the back. His pants where lines with Gold, his masculine frame was high lighted by the pure majestic aura he emanated, but that wasn't the most striking thing of his metamorphosis. It was his eyes.

His right eyes was a deep emerald orb of the fighting spirit. But, his left eye was the gold of the sand. The soul and the will of a lover who would fight for ever for his mate.

" I don't know you very well, or what you've been saying for the past five minutes." , He got into his deep stance, "but, your going to die. ."

Sasuke was taken aback by the sudden change, but he also got into the fighting stance. " We'll see about that now won't we."

They both grinned in unison.

_Gaara: For Sakura. _

With out the smallest bit of warning, Sasuke charged. He drew his crystal blade and pierced a deep trench into the sand as he ran. He quickly closed the distance between the two of them . Gaara, un armed, went some what wide eyed, but held out his hand as if he himself had a sword. Sasuke came flying into Gaara with a force that would make the largest and fastest of mammals jealous. Then in an instant out of no where appeared a sword, completely created out of sand. The sheath was harder than boulders but lighter than the feather of a lonely bird in the midst's of a forest fire. It was part of Shukaku's spirit. Unforgiving and hard to the world.

The both of them put pressure on the others sword. Gaara pushed forward, sending Sasuke sliding back ward. This time Gaara attacked. He aimed the tip of the sword straight for Sasuke' s cold heart. How ever, with the blink of an eye Sasuke disappeared and re appeared behind Gaara. A mad man's grin upon his face. Then there was the first impact. The crystal pierced into Gaara's back . Cutting through the center of the love kanji.

That was not acceptable. No, not to Gaara. He grimaced, then flipped around his body in mid air, grabbing hold of Sasuke's boney arms covered with the painful burning curse marks. He did a 360 spin and sent Sasuke barreling into the sand of death. Gaara didn't hesitate to engulf him in the sand and raise Sasuke from the grainy floor.

"Wait!" , Sasuke yelled out as he felt the sand tighten against his limbs.

"What?", Gaara's tone was harsh and scratchy. Blood lust , and revenge was the only thing on his mind.

" If you kill me", He gulped as the sand got harder, " Sakura dies as well."

"What?"

" You heard him Gaara." , Both heads turned to face the direction of a new voice. A creepier and more sinister being than the two of them put together. A snake like ghostly pale form stood next to the now awake Sakura. A smile filled with Sarcastic happiness flashed across the lower half of his face., " Or should I say, Lord Kazekage."

" Orochimaru.." , Gaara's eyes became small slits as he threw more glares into the arena. " Nice to know that you care more about glaring at me then you do about your precious one here.", Orochimaru gently Caressed Sakura's chin in his seemingly frail hands. " I'd hate to have anything happen to her that would forever steal her heart away from yours." He licked her chin and smiled again.

Sakura nearly threw up from pure disgust, " You're a true Freak , Orochimaru."

" I know", he returned his attention back to Gaara and Sasuke, who both seemed to be unnaturally disturbed by the action that had just taken place due to the will of the Snake Sanin. Thy shuddered in unison.

" How ever, you don't have much time before this comes true.", he continued. " The Soul Selection Jutsu binds the victim to the Caster of the jutsu." , "There bodies and minds slowly become the same. Soon, Sakura will be Sasuke and Vice Versa. The Snakes will slowly , and sorry to say this my pink little friend, but it'll be painfully when it starts."

" Orochimaru, when I get free from these freaky snakes, your one dead man., I swear I'm going to shove a kunai so far up your….", Sakura paused. Every one looked at her with curiosity. Sakura let out a blood curdling scream . The shear agony was like that multiplied force of a black hole crushing and tearing every cell apart in her body.. She clenched her fists and cheeks , shaking vigorously. Sakura stopped suddenly, finding some way to hold in her shrieks, Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Damn you." She whispered before she closed her eyes, and felt the wretched pain again.

Gaara loosened his grip on Sasuke. Taking this as an opportunity, Sasuke materialized beside Orochimaru.

" Do you want her back?"

" What do you want from me?", Gaara Inquired in a semi defeatist manner.

" Your power, let me be the Kazekage, and you'll have you Querida back", Gaara stood in shock. Since when did Orochimaru know how to Spanish?

" Don't do it Gaara.", Sakura's spoke. "It's ok, I'd rather become this bum, then have you disappoint your whole village. I love you Gaara. I'd give my soul to the devil for you." She let out a small whimper. " Don't do it."

_Gaara: What do I do? Loose the village, or loose my first love. I , I don't know what to do. _

_Shukaku: There is a way to stop them._

_Gaara: I'm listening. Anything, tell me._

_Shukaku: Make a bet. _

_Gaara: Gamble for her life? _

_Shukaku: Say you'll give them your power and village if you loose, but if you win, you get back Sakura, and .. well, you already kicked their butts, so.. yeah._

_Gaara: How can I fight them both? _

_Shukaku: Just you wait and see. _

" How about we make a bet? " Gaara, proposed, his face went blank and casual, as if nothing odd or out of the ordinary had ever happened.

Orochimaru's face light up. He liked bets, gambling, and all the sins the world could offer him.

" A bet . I Like the sound of that." He looked to Sasuke in inquiry. Sasuke simply backed his already made decision.

" We fight. If I Win, I get Sakura, and you leave. If you win, you get the village and my power.", he felt a stone drop I his heart. He closed his eyes and listened to Sakura softly gasp. _I'll win you back. _

"Deal." Sasuke and Orochimaru both said in unison.

They all toke their stances.

Ready.

Set.

Fight.

K.I.B.A.

OK, the next chapter is the last one. I hope you liked this one. I'm sorry for the delay!


	14. Lets see How Far We've Come

That's it, no more procrastination. I'm sorry I made you wait, but I made up my mind. I know I said that this would be the final chapter, but, I have to much of a finale for it to fit into one, so this is an iintro to the end. After this, I promise you that the next is the last.

XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

"And I believe the world is burning to the ground.

Oh well I guess we're gonna find out.

Lets see how far we've come.

Let's see how far we've come.."

-MatchBox20

"How Far We've Come"

The fire of rage burned uncontrollably in Gaara's heart. He couldn't stop him self from attacking. He couldn't hold back the quick fire impulse rushing through his veins. His mind was focused on one thing only, as he raced to the middle of the arena to get to his grinning raven haired enemy. His only weapons where his fists, that was all he needed. That's all he's ever needed, his fists, his will power, and something to fight for. In this case, it was Sakura. He would do anything to see her smile, to kiss her one more time. Those soft lips just couldn't belong to Sasuke. She wasn't going anywhere but with him.

Sand flew up ward behind him in a tidal wave formation, roaring and thundering as he approached Sasuke at a volatile pace. Gaara's red hair was flowing vigorously whipping his face. His piercing gold and green eyes, cold and calculating as they where, never looked away from his target. That bastard had the nerve to stand there with a fiendish grin pretending like he was as cool as a cucumber. He'd soon come to know that underestimating Gaara was a horrible, devastatingly serious mistake.

Sasuke was completely prepared for the attack. He mentally formulated his attack plans. He thought of various way to take down his incoming opponent. His onyx eyes dark as midnight showed every intent to kill. The crystal dagger was tainted a sickly hue of crimson, and his knuckles appeared white as he squeezed the handle. He braced him self for the sand, as his hair blew in the wind, he plastered his record breaking smirk on, and got ready to make his move. Crouching in a defense stance, he waited for Gaara' s move.

"Get ready to die!", Gaara yelled rearing his arm back preparing for his onslaught.

"Not before you do!" , Sasuke yelled, setting his life's purpose in stone.

Before the last match started, they thought of the same name, the same face.

_Sakura._

Gaara propelled his sand forward. It came crashing down upon the onyx eyed bastard, swirling and crushing the ground. A torrent of deadly particles. The red head jumped back from the spot, just in time to avoid the damage his attack would inflict. The sand began to settle and he tensed when his eyes met the sight of an empty crater baring no body within its depths. Gaara turned around to meet Sasuke's attack from behind. He knew his opponent was quick enough to get out of that one, but, so soon was a bit unexpected. He slapped himself mentally as he felt a small bone fracture in his arm from the kick.

Sakura was running out of time. He stole a quick glance at her. The sight that he was met with entirely took him by surprise. She was completely mobile now, and attacking Orochimaru. She had just landed a well aimed kick to his mid section. They where engaged in close combat, and Orochimaru seemed to have troubles holding her back. But, the most shocking thing of all was her hair. It was blue. It was a subtle shade of light blue with small strands of pink filtering through.

_Wait a second. What? How did she? Why is her hair.._

_Shit._

His thought where abruptly arrested by a fist connecting with his gut. He arched forward, and pushed Sasuke away from him before the push hit his vital organs. It's a simple trick, you act on childish impulse. If something gets to close, push it away. He grabbed Sasuke shoulders, and shoved him away, ripping his fragile silk shirt.

"Getting tired Gaara's your reaction times slowing down", They where about a foot apart from each other, glaring and growling. Gaara's nails dug into his fists, allowing blood to stain his gritty hands. In a blink of an eye they where back at it.

"Is that all your sand can do?", Sasuke yelled mockingly. His crystal weapon slicing the air close to Gaara's head, just barely missing it's target. They stayed in close rune combat, each avoiding attacks, and just barely out of the others reach. They dance on together, jabbing stabbing, and glaring the time away.

"I'm a much better match for Sakura than you could ever think to be." Sasuke continued to swing his sword. He sneered at Gaara.

Gaara ducked as the sword came too close to his head, he dived down, and executed a round house kick, knocking Sasuke off of his feet. It was a swift motion that seemed as if it had been choreographed. Gaara landed on his feet with ease, as he watched Sasuke fall to the ground in a heap.

"What are you babbling on about now? ", Gaara grinned, " That has to be the most deluded thing I've ever heard!" , Gaara laughed in his face, a malicious edge filtered into his tone, "Unlike you, she actually likes me."

Sasuke gave a grunt and maneuvered to his feet. With the fierceness of a mountain lion, Gaara drop kicked the spot Sasuke should have been in, but his leg only hit sand. The sand exploded up ward, as Sasuke teleported to the side off Gaara.

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled in frustration. Sasuke forgot about his sword and tried to punch his red headed opponent into oblivion.

He blocked a punch aimed at the love sign on his for head. Taking this as one of those moments that you can't miss out on, Gaara used an elementary move on Sasuke, flipping him over landing him on his back. Before he even hit the ground , he was gone, vanished into the mist of clouds.

There was a thick silence. Everything was still.

Bam! A fist came out of a translucent void and hit Gaara right in his jaw. Gaara winced as he heard and felt his jaw bone crack.

Shukaku; Hit him! Punch him right now!

He stumbled back wards, but, regained his balance, putting his game face back into place.

"Your going to pay for that.", a menacing glint entered Gaara's eyes. He wiped blood away from his mouth with the back of his fist, breathing heavily, he got into his secret attack stance.

_I didn't want to use this but._

_Shukaku: Desperate times_

_Gaara: Call for desperate measures._

He lunged at Sasuke, putting all of his weight into his fist. The Dark haired man was distracted with his small little victory, and failed to see the well aimed fist before it slammed into his stomach. Sasuke doubled over for just a millisecond, then was sent flying across the arena into the wall. His body left an imprint while he fell to the ground lifelessly.

He looked at Sasuke blood on his fist, and the blood from his own flesh. He didn't have much time before the transformation was complete, and Sakura was no longer herself. He thought of her smile. He knew Sasuke would get up in a moment. That was an inevitable fact. His was going to have to do this now.

Sasuke was up and forming hand signs, from the look of it, it was a body transformation jutsu. He was just as bruised and cut as Gaara. They where both exhausted and had to relay on there plan Bs.

Gaara performed a few quick hand signs, then closed his eyes slowly, thinking of who he was fighting for, and why he fought.

_This ends here!_

"Desert Goddess Jutsu!"

XOXOXOOXOXOX

"Orochimaru", Sakura wheezed between breathes. Sakura's water fall of hair was strewn across her shoulders, her menacing jade eyes depicting Orochimaru's death a thousand times over. She was furious her features portrayed a captive on the brink of turning savage. Of course she was angry beyond words. She had four large snakes pinning every limb of her body to a wall, that just sprang out of no where. And!, her hair was turning blue. Do you know how annoying that can be! Not to mention that a freaky snake man named Orochimaru keeps laughing every time Gaara gets hit with a punch! His stupid eyes crinkle up and his scratchy voice just makes these freakish little noises.

_I'm gonna pull this guys throat out if he doesn't shut up!_

"Yes", he answered her, his purple tongue accenting the 's'. Sakura looked at him with disgust in her eyes.

"Let me go you freak!", She yelled, struggling against the wall of snakes, not paying the slightest attention to the battle. She was going to get out of here so she could help Gaara kick Sasuke in the face a couple of times, then slap Sasuke, then stab Sasuke, then throw Sasuke , pull Sasuke's hair out of his head one by one…

"I can't do that." , He moved his evil scrawny looking snake form in front of Sakura. "See, if Sasuke doesn't have you, then he won't work for me. That was our deal, so, I'm no letting go of you", he grabbed a fist full of Sakura's hair in his scaly white hand, and pulled her head forward , Jerking her body against the chains.

You could here Sakura's screams as the snakes tightened around her, thinking she was trying to escape. Those purple menacing fat sausages.

_I'm killing these snakes next._

She felt a snake cease movement on her left arm. It didn't hold her tight, it just sort of went limp, it's elongated body wrapped around the wall.

" So," Orochimaru whispered into her ear, removing his hand from her hair to lightly hold her cheeks, mocking her with his playful eyes.

"You better be a good girl, Mrs. Uchiha, or I'll hurt you.", He let go of her, smiling like he had won some sort of sick little mental battle. He made those stupid laughing noises again, and continued watching the battle. He hovered closer to her.

_That fugly little fool. He killed on of his own snakes. _

Sakura smiled to herself in victory, she summoned chakra to her fist. That one snake holding her arm couldn't stop her from punching Orochimaru into next week any time soon.

"Orochimaru?", She whispered to him again, this time sounding as if she where in extreme pain. She gathered all her charka to her left arm.

"What!", he turned around, agitation in his voice.

Bam!

Sakura, punched him square in the face , flattening his nose, blood spurted out every where, reddening Sakura's fist. Orochimaru, grabbed on to the snake holding on to Sakura's right arm to stop him self from falling. He ripped it out of place, sending Sakura falling forwards, with only her legs bound.

_Ow, my boobs._

Her upper body slammed into the sand, as she pulled franticly against the two remaining snakes, that wouldn't cease there possession of her legs. Orochimaru, got up in a second, hissing profanities between his teeth. He stared with hatred at the blue haired girl struggling on the floor. Sakura's eyes opened wide when they say the look of insanity in Orochimaru's beady eyes.

"You little bitch!", He screamed, removing his hands from his face to reveal a crooked and bloody nose, he began kicking her .

Sakura, winced, but, she wasn't about to let him hurt her with out fighting back, she grabbed his foot, throwing him off balance, making him fall to the floor in a clumsy heap next to her. She kicked her legs, sending chakra to them this time, and was met with the morbid snapping sound of bones. She felt the snake go limp, and she arose. Facing the now recovered Orochimaru.

Her hands bal up into fist, her face graced with the expression of a soldier, she lunged in for the attack, prepared win, prepared to kick but, and prepared to get done with this guy so she could aid Gaara.

The final battle has just begun.

What side will win?

Darkness, or light?

XOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXO

Once again, this is not the end. I hope you enjoyed it, I know some of you would like to stab me, but, at least I updated! Review , tell me what you think. The end is near, so, be ready! Yay Team Gaara! Sorry if you catch mistakes in grammar and stuff, you all know about my laziness.


	15. Time

I wanna heal

I wanna heal

I wanna feel

What I thought was never real

I wanna let go of the thing I've felt so long

I wanna heal

I wanna feel

Like I'm close to something real

I wanna find something

I've wanted all along

Some where I belong

'With some one I belong'

Linkin Park

"Some Where I Belong"

Sakura stared down Orochimaru as if hell hath no more fury to lend her. Her long pink tresses clung wet and sweaty to her smooth skin. She inhaled and exhaled heavily, she needed much energy to do the simple task. Her lungs screamed in agony, and her face contorted in distress. She could smell the heat of battle all around her. The blood , the hot sparks of clashing metal, and of course the hatred emanating from her opponent. Her wrist was swollen and inflamed. It stung with great intensity. She balled up her fists, with cruel intentions in mind. She couldn't yet assist her combating lover. She knew that if she did, she ran the risk of putting him in danger. She cut a look at Orochimaru.

His blooded face and wide eyes were truly morbid to look at. His hair hung loose and gritty over his shoulders and down to his back. Despite his previous ass kicking session, he was still in better condition than she was. He wasn't as exhausted as she was. He hadn't been fighting for the same duration of time. He hissed at her. He replayed her death over, and over in his twisted little mind. His flesh was a sickly white pasty color. He was the embodiment of horrible. Despite his previous ass kicking session, he was still in better condition than she was. He wasn't as exhausted as she was. He hadn't been fighting for the same duration of time. He was her distress. Not to mention, Sakura's object of hatred.

_Sakura: I can't fight him like this. I have little to no chakra, a broken wrist and my respiratory system is shutting down. If I don't hurry up, I'll stop breathing, and Gaara won't get the help he needs. _

_Inner Sakura: You can inhale and exhale all you want, but eventually you're going to stop breathing. You have to make every last breath count. _

_Sakura: I don't want my breaths to be wasted. _

_Inner Sakura: Fight for your happy ending Sakura. I'll pull from our last chakra reserves._

_Sakura: Why didn't you just offer that! That would have been way easier!_

_Inner Sakura: Because…it could kill you. _

_Sakura: What! Why would it…_

_Inner Sakura: This last and final chakra reserve is your Root chakra. This red Chakra is found at the very base of your spine, this is what grounds you to the physical world. The very essence of your soul is being used up. If all of it is gone and finished, so is your life. _

_Sakura: …………._

_Inner Sakura: Is it a chance you're willing to take._

_Sakura: I'm willing to do anything to protect the ones I love. If we loose this battle, that means the death of hope. The whole entire leaf village will burn. I can't and I won't let it happen._

_Inner Sakura: OK. …….. Let's do this!_

_In unison: Cha!_

Orochimaru charged at her, his face set in pure evil rage. His nostrils flared like a bull in the heat of a fire, attacking blindly and on an impulse. Sakura took a deep labored breath and closed her eyes. Her chest was in anguish.

She felt the base of her spine grow hot. She arched her back in pain, it stung so much. Pure agony. She silently screamed. Then, the smoldering white pain traveled up her spine, and through every limb and vein in her body. From her finger tips to every tendril of hair, it spread. It expanded across her chest and on her cheeks. Sakura clutched her abdomen, digging her nails into her skin as she fell to the ground. She twisted and jerked unnaturally. Her pink hair became cluttered with dirt as she felt the sands tendrils brush against her skin. She could taste the grainy particles, and soon she became, all feeling. Her whole body exploded with incredible heat, but, she no longer burned.

Orochimaru grabbed her by the hair in a tight grip and lifted her forcefully from the ground. She stayed motionless. He pulled her body close to him, crushing her mockingly against his chest. His entire body was as solid as a rock, but he felt slimy and moldy. He smelled rotten, and sweaty. Putrid was to his breath like brightness was to the sun.

Sakura couldn't move. The heat was still traveling through her body, her muscles hardened, and she felt her chakra come back slowly. It pulsed and rushed through her veins. She was filled with hope for a moment. Soon she would have her time to fight. She would have her power back. Despite her newly raised mental bravado, she was still trapped against the perverted snake bastard, paralyzed and helpless.

Orochimaru leaned into Sakura, lowering his head so that he could whisper in her ear. " I am death Sakura. I am torture. I'll make you remember what I can do.", his voice was calm and playfully smooth. It was deep, but scratchy, as if abraded by time. He smiled against her skin. He moved his head now so that he nuzzled the crook of her neck. He inhaled her scent.

"You smell very nice my dear.", he let out a sickly laugh as he spoke, brushing his face slowly against her skin, " And my, you are so very soft.", he stopped moving. Sakura was filled with an eerie sensation. Orochimaru slid his hand into his pants pocket and took out a kunai.

Sakura could feel her heat pounding out of her chest. She could hear it in her ears as the blood and adrenalin spread through out her. She attempted to calm her nerves, know that panic only made situations worse. If she could some how endure the pain for a few more moments, she would have her strength back.

We all probably know what she'll do when her power returns. (Insert twitch here)

_Inner Sakura: Hold in there girl! It's coming, once it intertwines with your throat chakra, you'll be able to kick his sadistic little ass. _

_Sakura: I'm trying._

_Inner Sakura: Remember what we're fighting for. _

_Sakura: How could I forget, it's what I'm dying for._

He pressed the kunai against the exposed skin on Sakuras arm.

"I am Death.", he said, slicing into Sakura's skin. Her breath hitched in her throat, but she could not move. Orochimaru had a hand around her mid section, supporting her weight. He fingered the exposed skin of her back.

"I am pain", he whispered. He cut her again.

He slashed the knife over her arm, carving meaningless lines. He hummed to himself.

"Who am I Sakura? Tell me…."

A bright white light swept over them.

Sakura opened her eyes.

Her strength was back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dessert Goddess Jutsu!", Gaara's voice erupted from deep within him. Within moments of initiating this all too familiar jutsu, Gaara felt his limbs begin to grow. His arms twisted, and his bones broke painfully, as they expanded past their limit. His clothing began to rip as sand gripped at his body, twisting and swirling and covering every inch of him. His Hair crew wilder, longer, and thicker. He closed his eyes in concentration. His face was thoughtful and calm, almost peaceful. His neck snapped back wards and it twisted. His body stretched to 40 feet tall, and twenty feet wide. The sand wrapped around him and engulfing him with its mighty strength.

Sasuke watched on with an expression of pure horror and disbelief. He backed up from his opponent, his feet moving rapidly. His hair wisped around echoing his frantic heart. His eyes began to tear from the pain of his retinas being forced to close so suddenly. He raised his arm to shield himself as he continued to watch Gaara's expanding body.

_What' s going on here? What Jutsu is this?_

Gaara's large thick arms spread outward flexing and bending, connecting the disconnected joints and muscles. He checked to make sure everything was in place, and that everything would work when he again fought. His hair was a tangle of long crimson strands reaching his lower back. He was the sand now. Like the ocean, he was mighty. His entire body was the same exact sand color beside his gold, and emerald eyes. He smirked and looked down at the small inferior creature that was Sasuke Uchiha. He let out a large laugh that rumbled and shook the earth.

Sasuke was knocked off of his feet by the incredible force. He landed hard on his back, and stayed there.

Gaara was well aware that Sakura was very close to his large form. If he hit too hard, he could crumble the entire stadium to dust. He had great power at his disposal. He smirk, then he grinned, then he showed the word a malicious smile. His sharp teeth sparkled shined dully in the setting sun, and a breeze moved particles of sand around in the air.

"It's time to win this bet and collect on my wager Uchiha", his loud monstrous voice bolstered.

"I won' t be the one to die Gaara. Like you, I have my own sinister jutsu", he yelled up into the air, his voice carries onto Gaara's ears. It annoyed him to no end that this loser thought he could still win.

_Shukaku: He's swimming in denial. _

_Gaara: Pitiful._

Gaara's face twisted in anger. He lifted his heavy building sized sand covered arm , and aim ed for the small blue speck on the ground.

Sasuke saw this, and instantly , his hands went into motion, he rapidly formed hand sighs. His face was solemn as he heard the whistle and cracking of the air.

"Darkened Goddess Jutsu!"

Impact, was nonexistent. The air from the punch completely disappointed as the cocky expression on Gaara's face completely drained to a look of cold surprise. An equally large black hand grabbed his fist. Gaara stared into the black eyes of a heatless monster.

Green venom dripped from Sasuke's fangs onto his scaly dark blue skin. His entire body emanated darkness. His hair was short but potently spiky. On his back was a pair of purple wing, the flapped slowly, stirring the dust and debris. His face was set in a somber expression. Gaara glared into his eyes, completely and totally serious.

"How did you…", Gaara began with poison in his voice. His eyes turned to puny slits as he began as he swung his hand around in an attempt to slam it into Sasuke's jaw.

Sasuke caught it in his fierce grip.

" Sharingan… Remember", he said with his patented feline grin on his face

They gripped each other hands, squeezing ad cracking each others large bones. Gaara was careful to direct his blows in the opposite direction of Sakura. He jumped and threw a kick at Sasuke head, once again aiming specifically for the Jaw. Sasuke grabbed his grainy leg and flipped him in mid air, while flinging him upward into the sky. Sasuke braced against the ground, and flew up ward toward the red sand demons direction.

Gaara's breath halted when he was suddenly jolted upward. The cold atmosphere sent shivers down his broken spin. He closed his eyes thinking of some way to get out of the situation.

_Gaara: What the hell do I do now!_

_Shukaku: Fly Damn it!_

_Gaara: What!_

_Shukaku: Use the Sand!_

Sasuke approached Gaara in the air quickly, his hand balled in a fist, prepared to deal a vital blow. He stretched out his arm in front of him. Just as he prepared to make contact with the back of the red hair monster, sand blinded him. It shot down at him vigorously, and Gaara moved higher.

Seemingly out of no where, a legs drop kicked Sasuke and he plummeted to the ground. He winced in pain, but had no time to think for the earth was approaching rapidly. In the blink o fan eye, Sasuke's body stopped fall, and his wings went into work. Their broad purple sticky feathers pulsed and slowed him. He pushed of against the earth once more, and met Gaara face to face.

This time Gaara was the one with the remarkable smirk.

"How did you…………..", sasuke began to say.

What Gaara would have said if he wasn't Gaara.

1) " How did you…" He began

"I'm Sexy …………..Remember.", he smirked.

2) "How did you…", he gasped

"I'm a God Sasuke, fear me.", he grinned

3) "How did you"

" Flame on! Fantastic four!"

Sasuke stares with no comment.

4) " How did you"

"I drank some Red Bull, it gave me wings."

5) "How did you", his eyes opened in shock.

" What? Do you think Gravity pulled me up here."

But Since Gaara is Gaara

He simply flashed a smirk, and their battle continued.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The flash of disappeared as quickly as it began and Orochimaru's hands were trusted away from Sakura's body with incredible force. The ground shook beneath them. Sakura looked Orochimaru in the eyes and a glint of mischief crossed them before she smiled. His face was frozen in horror.

Sakura swiftly grabbed the kunai from him, the metal was drenched in her blood, but, she was over the pain, her body was numb to the world as the charka's killing ability instantly took place. She could sense her body fading away with every breath she took. Nothing could stop her now.

She delved the kunai deep into his gut. He let out a putrid scream. She was not sadistic like he was, so she could not bring herself smile at his pain. But, she was Satisfied. She felt his weight sulk down ward, and she felt almost sorry for him.

Almost.

"Your dead Orochimaru, that's what you are", she yelled! Her now dark blue hair blowing fiercely over her face.

"Never ever mess with a Kunoichi who was forced into a blind date by an annoying dancing blond girl, found true love , was threatened by some bitch and then had her hair cut off, and now is hanging between life and has to now go fight to save a village!", she finished removing the dagger.

"It's a terrible mistake", Sakura watched him fall to the ground and remain still. She said a silent prayer for his poor little soul, bowing her head, and closing her eyes.

_Inner Sakura: Cha!_

Sakura turned around to face the battle field. The desolate waste land of sand looked as if a couple of hurricanes and been playing tag in it. However, she could have sworn that she aged ten years when she saw two huge ass monsters ascending into the sky at lightning speed. Two huge things fighting in the pink hues of a setting sky , disturbing earths tender peace. Thier mightily wings thrusting air around as if the earth was their play ground.

There was a loud crash, and a few more crunch's being heard, then, a gust of wind blew through the arena. The long evacuated stadium whistled loudly, and echoed every single sound that was happening in the sky. She heard grunts, profanities, and choking noises alike.

She looked up and saw the exchange of harsh blows.

_Inner Sakura: The huge dark one has to be Sasuke. _

_Sakura: That means that the other one is Gaara._

A pang of worry surged through her. She couldn't see much through the all concealing clouds, but, it was a touch battle, and she knew deep down in her heart that Sasuke didn't play fair. Her face was blank with contemplation. She knew that she was more than half way an Uchiha. Unfamiliar images raced through her head of people she never knew. They all had raven hair, and many adorned the Sharingan.

These were Sasuke's memories. She could only hope that he didn't see hers.

There was a loud bang in the sky, both creatures punched each other simultaneously, and they both were sent plummeting toward the Earth.

Panic was every where. Panic was the air, the setting sun, the blood and most o fall, it was her heart.

Inner Sakura: Que a Hacemos!

Sakura: Yo no se!

Inner Sakura: Why are we speaking in Spanish!?

Sakura: I don't know!

"Ahhh!!", Sakura screamed. Her lungs gave out. She began to gasp for air. She was now taken what she firmly believed to be her final breaths. However, before there was any contact with the fragile earth, both bodies stripped their layers of temporary skin and began to shrink.

Sasuke landed in a heap across the entire arena in a pool of darkened feathers.

Gaara hit right into Sakura, sending them both flat on there backs in the sand.

Sakura felt Gaara get up beside her, he was tired, and could barely hold him self up. His gold eye was swollen shut, and his jaw looked equally as unpleasant. He looked at her from the corner of his good eyes. Horror played across his feature. He looked like a battle scarred worrier.

Sakura could imagine how she looked at the moment. Unreasonably bloody, and wheezing her life away. Her hair blue and sticky with sweat, that rolled down her scratched face and arms .

"Sakura…" He began to speak. Their eyes met, and their souls connected hungrily for each other. An intense gave silence the pain for one moment. He turned towards her slightly, but, he was forced to his knees by a pain that exploded in his chest. Connection broken, but not shattered.

"Your hair…is the jutsu…" , he spoke to her worry dripping in his voice. He clutched his broken arm, and closed his eyes in agony. She had him laying on her lap, her hand pouring the rest of her chakra into his damaged body.

"No", she rushed to his side , the kunai still in her hand, " I'm still me. What about…"

"Sakura! If I can't have you then nobody can!", A psychotic voice sounded from the other side of the arena.

Both figures looked at him in surprise. His face was contorted into a maniac smile, his teeth were over bared and his eyes wide and blood shot. Their eyes opened wide as they heard the lightening crackle of the Chidori . They could see the white orb grow and grow as sharp spikes erupted from its core. Gaara looked up into Sakura smooth face, and engraved it into his memory one last time.

_Shukaku and Inner Sakura: Why is the bastard still alive?"_

"He's going to kill us both." , Sakura whispered in disbelief and astonishment. She had to stop it, no longer could this man be allowed to hurt others. Orochimaru was gone, but, Sasuke was still a threat. He was going to kill Gaara, no one could kill Gaara.

She wouldn't let it happen.

_Time is ticking_

_Every Moment counts_

_The hands never lay still_

_They will forever move forward._

"Gaara." , Sakura looked down at him. She took in his entire face ; his smooth nose that felt so soft against her skin, his love Kanji, so beautiful, uniqueness was his element. Her smiling and wary eyes moved to his one visible orb of green, looking at her with question. His lips………

"How much do you love me?", she asked him seriously, her face smooth and emotionless, tears coming to her eyes. She stroked his hair softly. He was utterly and completely shock. A sense of foreboding welled up within him. Sakura could see his eyes go passive for a moment. She knew that he had a hint of what she was going to ask him to do.

_Though time may never stop._

_It will however slow_

_For those that require it_

_Their wish will be granted_

Sasuke rushed at them, sand flew behind him, maniac expression still in place. His mind was blank, his soul was black, and the blood within him ran cold. He was not human. He was nothing.

_Time is ticking_

"I need you to stab me.", she whispered to him, her tears fell onto his shocked face. He couldn't hear any hint of fear in her voice. His breath had left his lungs, and his thoughts had been erased.

"I'll never hurt you", his raspy voice whispered. Mimicking the same hushed tone.

_Second after second_

_Moment by moment_

_Time consumes all_

"Gaara listen to me", her voice became urgent but still soft, almost pliable. Her body felt numb.

" If he kills us, the entire leaf village is destroyed, my home, my life." ,she pleaded with him. His hard expression showed no resolve. She knew he wouldn't do it. Not yet.

"I'm dying any way. My lungs are failing; it's more and more complicated to speak by the second.", as if to prove her point, she began to wheeze. Not extremely, but, her lips parted more to take in air. She slid her hand from his head to her chest, and held it there. She was using so much strength just to speak. She wanted her last breaths to be for him.

"Since Sasuke and I are connected, if you stab me, it stabs him. His body can't take any more." She grew still, and inhaled a sharp breath. Gaara's eyes traveled across her face. He saw no regret there. Only sadness. She shouldn't have to do this. His inner turmoil, began to show on his face. He looked into her hardened Jade eyes, they looked just like his did. Tired, but still fighting. She was silent. He wanted to shout at her, scream at her.

Turn back time.

Sakura pushed the kunai into his hand.

"Do it for me." She said almost happily to him. She kissed him on the forehead, and gave him a smile.

It didn't reach her eyes.

_Time is ever so young_

_Restless and Impatient_

_Never waiting longer_

_Than it feels it has to_

Sasuke approached, ten yard away, the Chidori blazes like white fire. No thoughts in his head. No air in his lungs, but a single word whispered in his heart. Sorry.

_Move quickly_

_Before time passes you by._

"But Sakura", he began to say, pain gripping his heart. He mask was melting, and his face was turning red. Gaara was going to cry. The sand around them shifted in agony. Kill Sakura? Or, let her die? Why couldn't there be some other option.

"Sh", she whispered softly, placing a weak and slender finger on his lips.

There was silence.

"It's ok, you can do it."

_Gaara: What do I do._

_Shukaku: Do it!_

_Gaara: But……_

_Shukaku: Do it! _

He was brought out of his thoughts by lips lightly brushing against his.

"It's ok.", She said, "I love you"

He looked into her eyes with sadness, His face was miserable as well. He removed her hand from her chest and held it lightly. It felt so frail. She wheezing louder, but she was still beautiful.

_Tick tock tick tock_

Sasuke was ten steps away, but he was still disconnected.

_It's time _

_It's time _

_It's time _

_It's time _

The roar of the Chidori was filled his ears, and Sakura became a silhouette. It could all end soon.

Everything went white, and roar like one thousand birds filled his ears. Torn, and afraid for the first time ever Gaara lifted the dagger and thrust it forward. All was white.

A light body felt forward against him, his hand on the hilt of the kunai. The dagger went through her skin and deep within her torso.

He cried.

"I love you too"

Sakura's mind was like a dull buzz. She held on to her last strand of life. Gaara lay beneath her, with all that was left in her, she moved her hand to meet his on the dagger. They both feel into unconsciousness.

There hands intertwined.

Just like their destiny.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the shadows, a dark onyx eyed figure peered at the scene. The only Sharingan left in the world observed the intertwined bodies.

"Not yet", the smooth voice whispered.

He walk slowly over to them, as if strolling, place his hand on Sakuras blood stained back. She began to glow blue for an instant. Her cold cheeks bean to get a little bit warmed, and her labored breath eased some what.

He stopped suddenly.

"Sakura! Gaara! Sasuke!", he heard the Kyuubi scream in disdain. He moved with intense ease over to the body of the fallen Orochimaru. He picked up the snake mans body and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yup, Itachi, But, that's for the next story. What is it called you ask! I don't know. But, don't worry , it'll be good. Ok, school is almost over, updating will commence soon enough. I had to edit and re do the story, I wrote it at 4 a.m and I couldn't go back and read how confusing it was. Enjoy.


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